Dragons in the Drawing Room: Chinese Embroideries in British Homes

Chinese embroideries have featured in British domestic interiors since at least the seventeenth century. However, Western imperial interests in China during the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century created a particular set of meanings around Chinese material culture, especially a colonial form of nostalgia for pre-nineteenth century China, with its emperors and 'exotic' court etiquette. This article examines the use of Chinese satin-stitch embroideries in British homes between 1860 and 1949, and explores how a range of British identities was constructed through the ownership, manipulation and display of these luxury Chinese textiles

Modern Jewelry Art of Moldova

In this article the author examines some problems concerning formation of the jewelry industry in the territory of Bessarabia, Moldavian RSS and the Republic of Moldova, for the considerations that contemporary art jewelry is presented as a subject very poorly investigated, despite having an interest for historical researchers, the study art, ethnography and culturology. Are determinate some aspects of the evolution of different types of jewelry manufacturing workshops and articles Jewelry Plant Giuvaier from Chisinau, founded in 1972.jewelry art, museum collections, manufacturing, modern masters, jewelry decorations

Representing camp: Constructing macaroni masculinity in eighteenth century visual satire

This article asks how ‘Camp,’ as defined in Sontag’s 1964 essay, ‘Notes on Camp,’ might provide a valuable framework for the analysis of late eighteenth-century satirical prints, specifically those featuring images of the so-called ‘macaroni.’ Discussing a number of satirical prints and contemporary writings on the macaroni, the article reads them against Sontag’s text in order to establish its utility as a critical framework for understanding the images’ complex relationship of content, form, and function.Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburg

Beyond Rodin: Revisiting the Legacy of Camille Claudel

French sculptress Camille Claudel has gained recognition in the past 30 years due to a focus on her tragic life rather than her artistic talent. Despite critical acclaim and respect amongst her peers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, her affair with Auguste Rodin and her struggles with mental illness have cast a dark, dramatic shadow over modern interpretations of Claudel’s oeuvre. Considering how difficult it was for a woman to be working as an artist at this time, Claudel’s sculptures should not be outweighed by her personal life. In order to challenge the reader not to accept a simple biographical analysis of her oeuvre, I am looking at select works and considering how Claudel incorporated other art genres, daily life and literature references. Just as Claudel is often overlooked in a biography of Rodin, this investigation into Claudel’s inspirations does not simply accept him as the driving force behind her pieces, but instead chooses to go beyond Rodin in search of a renewed acclaim, and a new legacy, for Camille Claudel

From York to New Earswick: reforming working-class homes, 1899-1914

How to improve the lives of the working class and the poor in Britain has been a key concern for social reformers, architects and designers, and local and national governments throughout twentieth century, but the origins of this were in the preceding century. From the middle of the nineteenth century, reformers had understood the necessity of improving the living conditions, diet and material environment of those with low incomes. Housing, at the core of this, was increasingly a political issue, but as this case study of the development of a garden village in the North of England demonstrates, it was also a moral and aesthetic one

Taste and morality at Plymouth Grove: Elizabeth Gaskell’s home and its decoration

In 2010 Manchester Historic Buildings Trust appointed Crick Smith Conservation to analyse the paint and decorative finishes of the Gaskell’s House at 84 Plymouth Grove, Ardwick, Manchester. The purpose of this commission was to inform the Trust of the way that decorative surfaces were treated during the period of the Gaskell family occupancy and to make recommendations for the reinstatement of the decorative scheme. This article will examine Elizabeth Gaskell’s attitude towards taste and interior decoration and then explain how the techniques of architectural paint research can be used to establish an authoritative account of the decorative scheme implemented at Plymouth Grove during her lifetime. We will argue that this enhanced understanding of how Gaskell handled the decoration and furnishing of her home can contribute towards our understanding of the author’s life and work

Craft(ing) narratives: Specimens, souvenirs, and “morsels” in A la Ronde’s specimen table

This article explores the relationship between souvenir acquisition and the construction of narrative in the interior decoration of A la Ronde in Devon, home to cousins Jane and Mary Parminter. During their 1796–1811 period of homosocial cohabitation, the Parminters ornamented the property with handcrafted objects and spaces, often fabricated from souvenirs, found objects, and pieces from their family collection. While the secondary literature on A la Ronde emphasizes the appropriateness of so-called feminine crafts such as shell-work and paperwork for the decoration of a female space, this article reveals how the cousins used material objects to create complex domestic, familial, and touristic narratives. Focusing on a specimen table made around 1790, the article situates its production in relation to the histories of the Parminter family, their residence in Devon, and their extensive Continental tour. Utilizing frameworks from period travel writing, it demonstrates how the collection and creation of such objects was indivisible from the construction of narrative.Edinburgh College of Art Research Studentship, The University of Edinburgh