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
China had garnered so much success with the exportation of porcelain in Europe around the late 16th century, however much later towards the end of the 17th century there is an abrupt downfall. This...Show moreChina had garnered so much success with the exportation of porcelain in Europe around the late 16th century, however much later towards the end of the 17th century there is an abrupt downfall. This thesis aims to show how European ideology and advancement played a key role in the downfall of Chinese porcelain in Europe. China was a role model when it came to the making of porcelain, with their mysterious techniques and the use of ingredients not yet known to the Europeans. They were placed on a pedestal and regarded as one of the best at this craftsmanship. However, that mystery surrounding the production of porcelain died down after the Europeans figured out the techniques and the ingredients used. China was also highly regarded at one point in time by the Enlightened thinkers of Europe. However as the years progressed more negative views were brought to light and the once highly regarded China was now seen as inferior and backwards.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
This study has shown why the difficult to make and very expensive black fond was made on Delft black pottery between 1675-1725. This has been done by looking at different sources from the...Show moreThis study has shown why the difficult to make and very expensive black fond was made on Delft black pottery between 1675-1725. This has been done by looking at different sources from the seventeenth century as well as recent studies about this subject. The most recent sources are explaining how Delft black pottery was produced to make pottery that looked like Japanese black lacquerware and Chinese black porcelain. Sources form the seventeenth century are telling us that people in Japan as well as in de Dutch Republic were very fond of and fascinated by the colour black. In Japan black was seen as a gentlemen’s colour, and in Europe it was so rare that only the richest people of the Republic were able to afford black clothing. Because of the costs, the many problems the potters faced when manufacturing Delft black and the old sources, the contemporary ideas about the underlying meaning of this pottery seem too farfetched. Based on other sources from the seventeenth century, such as inventory lists and paintings, research has been done after collecting black objects before and in the years Delft black was made. When looking at the inventories and paintings, a remarkable increase is visible in the number of black objects that people possessed. Besides the increase of these black objects which shows us how fashionable it was around 1700, black was also a formal colour to wear, even when people possessed the coloured clothing that were much newer in fashion. Although Japan did not influence the Republic in their thought about ‘black as a gentlemen’s colour’, in both countries it was a status symbol. The colour black was in fashion in the Dutch Republic, which was the reason for the best potters of Delft to attempt to produce Delft black pottery.Show less
