Dressing the Interior in the Early Modern: Textiles in Various Domestic Settings.

Dressing the Early Modern Network Conference 2023.
Textiles, wall and furniture coverings played an important role in dressing interiors in the early modern period. From curtains to chairs, tables and beds a variety of textiles was needed to protect, adorn and transform rooms, homes and palaces. They were an important part of the dwelling as they linked the interiors together and showcased the taste and material means of the owners. Different rooms in the house served diverse purposes, from more public spaces such as waiting rooms, reception rooms and ballrooms to more private rooms such as the bedroom with its antechambers. In other households, rooms often had multiple functions and in many cases the distinction between private and public interior was more flexible. Textiles played an important role in distinguishing and modifying these spaces while giving a glimpse of the relationship that the owners had with those interiors.
While extant textiles have been frequently altered to fit new purposes denoting both their durability and the costly aspects of this medium, ledgers provide further examples of repairs and replacements. On the other hand, inventories give a more accurate picture of the changes in fashion over time. Fashions played an important role in the dressing of the interiors, from certain more desirable fabrics and colours being favoured over others, while also being altered according to seasons. This conference aims to generate a discussion about the use of various textiles in the interiors in the early modern focusing on their function, durability, colour, texture and pattern and how they were made to fit a specific purpose and give meaning to every room.

Registration
Ticket price €15,00 + €1,92 administrative costs
Register before 20 September through https://dressing_interior.eventbrite.nl
Organised by Jola Pellumbi and Sara van Dijk, Dressing the Early Modern Network, and Alexander Dencher, Leiden University / Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
www.dressingtheearlymodern.com

PROGRAM:

Saturday 23 September 2023, Leiden University, Cleveringaplaats 1, Leiden, Lipsius Building, room 0.11

10:00-10:30 Registration
10:30-10:45 Welcome by organizers

10:45-12:15 Session 1: Interior and Experience
Chair: Steven Lauritano (Leiden University)
10:45-11:05 Dangerous Liaisons Revisited: Drapery and Dress in Eighteenth-Century French Interiors
Mei Mei Rado (Bard Graduate Center, New York)
11:05-11:25 Tiny Textiles: Dressing the Interiors of Eighteenth-Century English Baby Houses Amy Craig (Cambridge University)
11:25-11:45 Eighteenth-Century Global Domesticity: Textiles and Exoticism Valeria Viola (University of Palermo)
11:45-12:15 Discussion

12:15-13:00 Lunch break

13:00-14:30 Session 2: Objects’ Pasts and Futures
Chair: Marika Keblusek (Leiden University)
13:00-13:20 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ….Restore? A Case Study of Re-Using ‘Original’ Fabrics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum
Marjolein Koek (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
13:20-13:40 Bed of White Satin with Silk Embroidery and Bobbin Made Silver Edgings Lena Dahrén (affiliated to Uppsala University)
13:40-14:00 Seating the Stadholder
Aagje Gosliga (Vereniging Hendrick de Keyser, Amsterdam)
14:00-14:30 Discussion

14:30-15.00 Coffee and tea break

15:00-16:00 Session 3: Materials and Materiality
Chair: Alexander Dencher (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
15:00-15:20 Strong Weave, Soft Texture, Crisp White. The Unravelling of Fustian in Dutch Interiors in the Early Seventeenth Century
Sara Wieman (University of Amsterdam)
15:20-15:40 Re-Materialising Walls through Intermedial Design: Chinese Silk and Paper Wall Hangings in Eighteenth-Century European Interiors
Erika Riccobon (Leiden University)
15:40-16:00 Discussion

16:00-16:45 Keynote lecture The Seemingly Original Interior
Anna Jolly (Abegg-Stiftung, Riggisberg)
16:45-17:00 Closing remarks