The cosmopolitan interior
Subtitle: liberalism and the British home, 1870-1914
By: Judith A. Neiswander.
Series: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 216
ISBN-13: 9780300124903
Subjects: Interior decoration -- Social aspects -- Great Britain; Interior decoration -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century; Interior decoration -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century; Liberalism -- Great Britain
Description: Literature on domestic interior decoration first emerged as a popular genre in Britain during the 1870s and 1880s, as middle-class readers sought decorating advice from books, household manuals, women's magazines, and professional journals. This intriguing book examines that literature and shows how it was influenced by the widespread liberalism of the middle class.Judith Neiswander explains that during these years liberal values - namely, individuality, cosmopolitanism, scientific rationalism, the progressive role of the elite, and the emancipation of women - informed advice about the desirable appearance of the home. In the period preceding the First World War, these values changed dramatically: advice on decoration became more nationalistic in tone and a new goal was set for the interior: "to raise the British child by the British hearth". Neiswander traces this evolving discourse within the context of current writing on interior decoration, writing that is much more detached from social and political issues of the day.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Acknowledgments; title: Introduction; title: Ch. 1. The middle-class interior before 1870; title: Ch. 2. The cosmopolitan interior : individuality and eclectic internationalism; title: Ch. 3. The cosmopolitan interior : science, progress, and the role of the elite; title: Ch. 4. The cosmopolitan interior and the empowerment of women; title: Ch. 5. Liberal values in conflict and decline; title: Ch. 6. "A nation in miniature"; title: Epilogue; title: Endnotes; title: Select bibliography; title: List of illustrations; title: Picture credits; title: Index.