Chinoiserie Commerce and Critical Ornament in Eighteenth-Century Britain

by Sloboda, Stacey

• ISBN13: 9780719089459
• ISBN10: 071908945X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-07-31
• Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

In a critical reassessment of chinoiserie, a style both praised and derided for its triviality, prettiness, and ornamental excesses, Stacey Sloboda argues that chinoiserie was no mute participant in eighteenth-century global consumer culture, but was instead a critical commentator on that culture. Analysing ceramics, wallpaper, furniture, garden architecture and other significant examples of British and Chinese design, this book takes an object-focused approach to studying the cultural phenomenon of the 'Chinese taste' in eighteenth-century Britain.

It is essential reading for anyone interested in the critical history of design and the decorative arts in eighteenth-century Britain, and students and scholars of art history, material culture, eighteenth-century studies and British history will find a novel approach to studying the decorative arts and a forceful argument for their critical capacities.

Author Biography

Stacey Sloboda is Associate Professor of Art History at Southern Illinois University, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Re-assessing Foreign Policy, 1969-72
2. A Year of Discord, 1973–74
3. Wilson Returns, 1974–76
4. All out of Money, 1976–77
Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index