Chinoiserie: Commerce and Critical Ornament in Eighteenth-Century Britain

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 the period, 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: Christopher Breward, Stacey Sloboda
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 07/31/2014
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.65lbs
Size: 9.70h x 6.80w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780719089459

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2015 pg. 1132

About the Author

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