A CIDOC CRM-aligned Motif Configuration Application Profile for configurational meaning in Peranakan Nyonya ceramic heritage

Abstract

Nyonya ceramics encode cultural meaning through configurations of motifs, roles, colour grounds, vessel forms and domestic-ritual contexts. To support structured management of this configurational heritage information, this study develops the Motif Configuration Application Profile (MCAP), a CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC CRM)-aligned domain profile. MCAP separates Visual Configurations, Cultural Contexts, Configurational Interpretations and Interpretation Activities, and implements them in 22 relational tables and nine views. The profile was tested on a purposive method-validation corpus of 100 analytical records, including 80 official records and 20 field-observation records. Two independent coders applied the coding framework, producing substantial-to-near-perfect agreement on most structured fields; independent adjudication resolved 101 disagreements and reviewed 100 interpretation pairs. An equal-input CIDOC CRM/CRMinf comparison further showed that MCAP preserves interoperability while making configuration-level evidence, confidence and adjudication directly accessible. The study provides a reproducible, auditable and reusable application profile for motif-dense Peranakan ceramic heritage.