Surface Value: Ways of Seeing Decoration in Architecture
The long 18th century was a period of intense investment in elite architecture in Britain which sustained an extensive craft culture in carving, modelling, and joinery. Yet decoration is largely marginalised or ignored by architectural historians. This antipathy to the enrichment of buildings is not...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Open Library of Humanities
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Architectural Histories |
| Online Access: | https://journal.eahn.org/articles/534 |
| _version_ | 1817977592534269952 |
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| author | Christine Casey |
| author_facet | Christine Casey |
| author_sort | Christine Casey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The long 18th century was a period of intense investment in elite architecture in Britain which sustained an extensive craft culture in carving, modelling, and joinery. Yet decoration is largely marginalised or ignored by architectural historians. This antipathy to the enrichment of buildings is not particular to Britain and reflects a wider discourse on the architecture of many periods and places. By situating past and present attitudes to 18th-century decoration in Britain within a wider historiography, this paper reveals the prejudices which still attend the discussion of ornament and craft production in architecture. Conversely, it explores revisionist perspectives on craft and decoration and considers how they can inform architectural history and contribute to a more holistic understanding of building production. Despite a recent, widespread revival of interest in ornament, however, scholarship continues to privilege conceptual issues over the material practices of decoration. Disciplinary boundaries have militated against an integrated approach to architecture and decoration and historians of sculpture and architecture have overlooked significant common ground. Lacunae in the historiography of decoration in 18th-century British architecture call for approaches which integrate the analytical and methodological tools of architectural and sculpture history. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T22:17:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-89e693a654454006a695fcc90284c145 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-5833 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T22:17:30Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Open Library of Humanities |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Architectural Histories |
| spelling | doaj.art-89e693a654454006a695fcc90284c1452022-12-22T02:27:24ZengOpen Library of HumanitiesArchitectural Histories2050-58332021-09-019110.5334/ah.534218Surface Value: Ways of Seeing Decoration in ArchitectureChristine Casey0Department of the History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College DublinThe long 18th century was a period of intense investment in elite architecture in Britain which sustained an extensive craft culture in carving, modelling, and joinery. Yet decoration is largely marginalised or ignored by architectural historians. This antipathy to the enrichment of buildings is not particular to Britain and reflects a wider discourse on the architecture of many periods and places. By situating past and present attitudes to 18th-century decoration in Britain within a wider historiography, this paper reveals the prejudices which still attend the discussion of ornament and craft production in architecture. Conversely, it explores revisionist perspectives on craft and decoration and considers how they can inform architectural history and contribute to a more holistic understanding of building production. Despite a recent, widespread revival of interest in ornament, however, scholarship continues to privilege conceptual issues over the material practices of decoration. Disciplinary boundaries have militated against an integrated approach to architecture and decoration and historians of sculpture and architecture have overlooked significant common ground. Lacunae in the historiography of decoration in 18th-century British architecture call for approaches which integrate the analytical and methodological tools of architectural and sculpture history.https://journal.eahn.org/articles/534 |
| spellingShingle | Christine Casey Surface Value: Ways of Seeing Decoration in Architecture Architectural Histories |
| title | Surface Value: Ways of Seeing Decoration in Architecture |
| title_full | Surface Value: Ways of Seeing Decoration in Architecture |
| title_fullStr | Surface Value: Ways of Seeing Decoration in Architecture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surface Value: Ways of Seeing Decoration in Architecture |
| title_short | Surface Value: Ways of Seeing Decoration in Architecture |
| title_sort | surface value ways of seeing decoration in architecture |
| url | https://journal.eahn.org/articles/534 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christinecasey surfacevaluewaysofseeingdecorationinarchitecture |