Imagining Egypt : the Regency furniture collections at Harewood House, Leeds and nineteenth century images of Egypt
Two objects formed the catalyst for this project and can be used to introduce the set of parallel and converging discourses that underline the text. A pair of cross-frame stools, still found in the entrance hall at Harewood today, generate a series of questions, regarding the collection itself and the Regency period, the history of the Lascelles family in the early nineteenth century and the dichotomy clearly present between the patterns of patronage of the previous generation and that of Edward Lascelles (d. 1814). Stylistically the stools look towards Egypt, engendering an investigation into the formation of this particular revival, centred on the figure of Dominique-Vivant Denon, whose text Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Egvpte introduced French society to the archaeological discoveries found in the conquered lands. A copy of this text is located in the Harewood collections, and it forms the foundation of a consideration of the political, semiological and social implications of the use of a particular decorative style. Questions are asked regarding the cultural implications of interior design. This leads us back to an examination of how and why the Egyptian revival was established in Britain. This has
Moore, Abigail Louise Harrison
CC Archaeology ; DE The Mediterranean Region. The Greco-Roman World ; NK Decorative arts Applied arts Decoration and ornament
Imagining Egypt : the Regency furniture collections at Harewood House, Leeds and nineteenth century images of Egypt. Two objects formed the catalyst for this project and can be used to introduce the set of parallel and converging discourses that underline the text. A pair of cross-frame stools, still found in the entrance hall at Harewood today, generate a series of questions, regarding the collection itself and the Regency period, the history of the Lascelles family in the early nineteenth century and the dichotomy clearly present between the patterns of patronage of the previous generation and that of Edward Lascelles (d. 1814). Stylistically the stools look towards Egypt, engendering an investigation into the formation of this particular revival, centred on the figure of Dominique-Vivant Denon, whose text Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Egvpte introduced French society to the archaeological discoveries found in the conquered lands. A copy of this text is located in the Harewood collections, and it forms the foundation of a consideration of the political, semiological and social implications of the use of a particular decorative style. Questions are asked regarding the cultural implications of interior design. This leads us back to an examination of how and why the Egyptian revival was established in Britain. This has
imagining egypt regency furniture collection house leeds image egypt object form catalyst project use introduce set parallel converge discourse underline text pair cross frame still find entrance hall today generate series_question regard collection regency period history family early dichotomy clearly present pattern patronage previous generation edward stylistically look towards egypt engender investigation formation particular revival centred figure whose text voyage haute introduce french society archaeological discovery find conquer land copy text locate collection form foundation consideration political social_implication use particular decorative_style questions ask regard cultural implication interior design lead back examination egyptian revival establish britain