This thesis explores the early modern coffeehouse and its bourgeois clientele in Europe in the form of a case study on Dutch coffeehouses in Amsterdam in the 17th and 18th centuries. The chosen...Show moreThis thesis explores the early modern coffeehouse and its bourgeois clientele in Europe in the form of a case study on Dutch coffeehouses in Amsterdam in the 17th and 18th centuries. The chosen inquiry seeks to elucidate how a new social category – the bourgeoisie – developed over altered drinking habits, materials and the corresponding aesthetical codes within the social institution of the coffeehouse. Rather newly, the coffeehouse as an institution of publicness and consumption in the Enlightenment is researched from the angle of visual and material history. On the whole, this thesis contributes to the cultural historical field of early modern consumption. One result is that the consumer goods coffee and porcelain created a balance between rational forms of conduct and individual attitudes within the public sphere of coffeehouses. A multifarious historical approach by the means of visual and textual sources towards the early modern consumption of both coffee and porcelain considers the correspondent material qualities and suggests that porcelain from China has been remarkably suitable for the coffee ritual which entered Europe from the Middle and Near East. The thereby evolved tastes were groundbreaking for the rise of the bourgeoisie. This is demonstrated by the analysis of the design and arrangement of the vessels required for the individual and collective display of the tastes around coffee-drinking, on the basis of inventories and images. From a postcolonial perspective, the present thesis outlines which associations around the historical concept of luxury accompanied the adoption of Asian coffee and porcelain coffee ware into European consumption habits, while the world of coffee has always been represented as an oriental theme in travelogues, recipe books, medicinal treatises and fashion plates. Furthermore, the thesis describes how these ideas and values associated with coffee-drinking enabled the consolidation of the social construct of a specific regional group of the urban middleclass bourgeoisie, while locating the coffeehouse in the unique historical environment of early modern Amsterdam.Show less
The continuity of chinoiserie in the application of Chinese elements in post-1990 Euro-American women’s ready-to-wear is reflected in the presence of stereotype. Both chinoiserie and the...Show moreThe continuity of chinoiserie in the application of Chinese elements in post-1990 Euro-American women’s ready-to-wear is reflected in the presence of stereotype. Both chinoiserie and the application of Chinese elements in Euro-American ready-to-wear are not the same as how elements are in the Chinese art. In addition, the applied Chinese elements in both situations reflected a China that is different from how China really is. However, in both aspects, the application of Chinese elements in Euro-American ready-to-wear is much closer to the Chinese culture. Besides, Euro-American fashion designers took the authentic Chinese elements as their inspiration sources, while chinoiserie was developed on objects that will not be considered as Chinese art by Chinese people.Show less
This thesis focuses on the porcelain rooms of Mary Stuart (1662-1694), the wife of William III of Orange (1650-1702), at Het Loo and Hampton Court that housed Asian porcelain and its imitation,...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the porcelain rooms of Mary Stuart (1662-1694), the wife of William III of Orange (1650-1702), at Het Loo and Hampton Court that housed Asian porcelain and its imitation, Delft porcelain. The porcelain rooms introduced by the Orange princesses were the basis of Mary’s way of display, with regard to some decorative elements and the different types of the rooms according the function of the porcelain. She also added her original touch to the previous manner of porcelain display in collaboration with French designer Daniel Marot the Elder (1661-1752). The client Mary’s personal taste must not be underestimated. Her own creativity was expressed by the unconventional way of mixing her two major interests - oriental porcelain and plants. Through the newly designed Delft wares, fresh flowers came into the porcelain rooms in unprecedented manner and oriental porcelain came into the garden; they mutually worked together and formed a unified whole. This research provides us with a new aspect of early modern women’s contribution to creating domestic culture from ingredients that came from different regions.Show less
