Stories from Home: English Domestic Interiors 1750-1850 (The History of Retailing and Consumption) (The History of Retailing and Consumption)

Most homes in the past were not elite, wealthy interiors complete with high fashion furnishings, designed by well-known architects and designers, as many domestic histories often seem to have assumed. As this book makes clear, there were in fact an enormous variety of house interiors in England during the period 1750-1850, reflecting the location, status and gender of particular householders, as well as their changing attitudes, tastes and aspirations. By focusing on non-metropolitan homes, which represented the majority of households in England, this study highlights the need for historians to look beyond prevailing attitudes that often reduce interiors to generic descriptions based on high fashions of the decorative arts. Instead it shows how numerous social and cultural influences affected the manner in which homes were furnished and decorated. Issues such as the availability of goods, gender, regional taste, income, the second-hand market, changing notions of privacy and household hierarchies and print culture, could all have a significant impact on domestic furnishing. The study ends with a discussion of how domestic interiors of historic properties have been presented and displayed in modern times, highlighting how competing notions of the past can cloud as well as illuminate the issue. Combining cultural history and qualitative analysis of evidence, this book presents a new way of looking at'ordinary'and'provincial'homes that enriches our understanding of English domestic life of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Contents......Page 6 List of Illustrations and Tables......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Introduction: Reading Domestic Interiors, Past and Present......Page 12 Part I......Page 32 1 Provincial Homes......Page 34 2 Transient Homes......Page 66 3 Recycled Homes......Page 90 4 Extended Households......Page 114 5 Incomplete Households......Page 142 Part II......Page 166 6 Representations of Home......Page 168 Appendix: Homemakers and Tradespeople......Page 202 Bibliography......Page 208 B......Page 224 C......Page 225 F......Page 226 H......Page 227 K......Page 228 N......Page 229 S......Page 230 T......Page 231 W......Page 232 This book provides a fresh look at English domestic furnishings and decoration in the period 1750-1850, focusing on 'ordinary' and 'provincial' homes. Rejecting prevailing attitudes that often reduce interiors to generic descriptions based on high fashions of the decorative arts, it instead shows how numerous social and cultural factors combined to influence the manner in which homes were furnished and decorated. Issues such as the impact of availability of goods, gender, regional taste and print culture on domestic furnishing are thoroughly explored, expanding our understanding of English dom Combining Cultural History And Qualitative Analysis Of Evidence, This Book Presents A New Way Of Looking At 'ordinary' And 'provincial' Homes That Enriches Our Understanding Of English Domestic Life Of The Late Eighteenth And Early Nineteenth Centuries.--book Jacket. Introduction: Reading Domestic Interiors, Past And Present -- Provincial Homes -- Transient Homes -- Recycled Homes -- Extended Households -- Incomplete Households -- Representations Of Home -- Appendix: Homemakers And Tradespeople. Margaret Ponsonby. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [197]-211) And Index.