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Luxury [ Taste & Manners ]
… century. By its very nature, luxury is always defined in relation to an audience and hence cannot be conceived of without interaction. Humans not only have the urge to indulge in it but also to display it as evidence of their status. … prerogative of the privileged classes of rulers, warriors, churchmen and landowners’ 2 who displayed items associated with ‘surplus resources’ and ‘high culture’ to cement their elite status and underline their authority. Thus, the display … sociability: The more these refined arts advance, the more sociable men become : nor is it possible, that, when enriched with science, and possessed of a fund of conversation, they should be contented to remain in solitude, or live with their …
Art | Commodities | Community | Consumption | Furniture | Luxury | Porcelain | Shopping | Tea-table | Women
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Tea-table [ Furniture & Interior decoration / Rituals & Ceremonies / Eating & Drinking ]
… in Britain until the second decade of the eighteenth century or later. While coffee consumption was closely associated with the public socializing of the coffee-house, tea was strongly marked, from its inception, by its association with high status socializing, with women and the royal court, and with the domestic or private sphere. It is also worth noting that all tea consumed in …
Conversation | Domesticity | Exoticism | Furniture | Gossip | Politeness | Public sphere | Tea | Tea-table
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Gaming table [ Sports & Gaming accessories ]
… and Technical Aspects As a table chiefly designed to entertain (in every sense of the word), it was also endowed with a representative function, which may account for its marked decorative dimension. Although many tables remained … create varying patterns of colour alternating different types of woods imported from all over the world and contrasting with the previous years’ extensive use of walnut wood. Mahogany in particular became fashionable in England at the … triangular shape and most of them usually seated three to four players, creating a strong sense of intimacy if compared with wider dining tables for instance. In England, gaming tables became objects of luxury strongly inspired by the …
Aristocracy | Domesticity | Furniture | Gambling | Gaming | Playing
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