Between Luxury and the Everyday: Decorative Arts in Eighteenth–Century France

This exciting new collection of essays by leading scholars redefines the study of the decorative arts in eighteenth–century France. Moving between broader accounts of the impact of Enlightenment philosophy in shaping an understanding of the ′decorative arts′ and case studies of silks, furniture and architecture, it illuminates the material worlds of consumers from the extravagance of the court to the more modest tastes of middle–class families. Working with new theories of the body and of space the book offers a new vision of the interior and its centrality to French culture. Alive to the everyday pleasures found in objects, furnishings and dress, this collection links the material world to political and social life and reflects upon change and continuity across the century from Absolutism to Revolution.

1. Introduction: Image–Object–Space (Katie Scott). 2. Decorating Knowledge: The Ornamental Book, the Philosophic Image and the Naked Truth (Mary Sheriff). 3. The Encyclopédie and the Idea of the Decorative Arts (Elisabeth Lavezzi). 4. The Marriage of Art and Commerce: Philippe de Lasalle’s Success in Silk (Lesley Ellis Miller). 5. Regeneration Through the Everyday? Clothing, Architecture and Furniture in Revolutionary Paris (Leora Auslander). 6. Framing Ambition: The Interior Politics of Mme de Pompadour (Katie Scott). 7. Inside/Interiors: Chardin’s Images of the Family (René Démoris). Notes on Contributors. Index.

Katie Scott is Reader at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Deborah Cherry teaches at University of the Arts, London and is editor of Art History.