I always thought I was ahead of the times, turns out I'm behind them.

Cup and cover, Philipp Senger, Florence, Italy, about 1680
Image courtesy of V&A website

Morning all!

Just thought I'd update you all on my progress with reading up on culture in the 18th Century!


It's been an interesting week for me, I went to the UCL Library and took out the books I mentioned in my last post, so I've been delving into those and making some interesting discoveries.


I was reading a chapter in John Brewer's 'Pleasure of the Imagination' last night and came across a chunk of text about 'Taste' and how important it was to have 'Taste' in 18th Century London. To obtain good taste, one would own the finest paintings and literature of the time. People would also collect and display 'Objects d'art' which is of particular interest to me. It was so fascinating to read about how people in London slowly became more educated in fine arts. Literature and paintings were no longer restricted to the Courts and royalty. The book is giving me a general overview of the social developments but I feel that soon I'd like to focus more on the methods of interior design to try and find out more about the types of objects furnishing the houses of the Georgian period. Luckily I have the book for just that!


I also had another look on the V&A website and found their Rococo collection interesting as this was art movement happening during the 18th Century. I'm rather irritated at myself because the website tells the the Rococo rooms are now closed until 2014 for refurbishment. But I think I should visit there soon to inspect their porcelain and ceramics.
I also found an art history course offered by the V&A on 'Rococo to Modernism: 1720-1920' which looked absolutely fascinating, however, sadly I cannot afford the course fees. But there was a reading list for the course which I found very useful for what I can read next! 


These are the books that caught my eye...


M. Snodin & J. Styles - Design and the Decorative Arts: Georgian Britain 1714 - 1837
M. Snodin & J. Styles - Design and the Decorative Arts: Victorian Britain 1837 - 1901
C. Wainwright - The Romantic Interior: The British Collector at home 1750 - 1850
R. Hildyard - European Ceramics


Now I just have the hard job of finding copies of them! I checked the UCL Library Catalogue and they have C. Wainwright's book, however it doesn't have any of the others.
Does anybody know where I might be able to borrow copies of these?
I checked out the British Library at St. Pancras but I can only reserve them to look at in the reading room which isn't ideal but if I can't find anywhere to borrow them then I shall have to go for this option!
If you can help I would really appreciate it!


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