@phdthesis{01JV04P49857HDDGFGFEK7C321,
  abstract     = {{This study explores the emergence and popularity of period rooms in Belgian bourgeois interiors during the second half of the nineteenth century. It focuses specifically on the combination of a French salon and a Renaissance or Gothic dining room, analysing the context and causes of this trend within Belgium and its connection to broader European developments. A nation-state since 1830, Belgium presents a unique case given its industrial and economic development, a growing middle class, urbanization, and the accompanying demand for new interiors. Simultaneously, the country functioned as a cultural crossroads, where private interiors were influenced by both its own cultural heritage and Western European tendencies.
The study approaches this development from three perspectives: advice, production, and domestic practice. Advisory literature, including French fashion magazines, European interior design guides, and etiquette and housekeeping books, played a pivotal role in disseminating ideas on home decoration. They emphasized the function of specific rooms by linking them to styles, while simultaneously highlighting the importance of a personal, "artistic" home. The study then juxtaposes these concepts with commercial realities through sales catalogues, advertisements, and industrial exhibitions. Belgian workshops produced historically inspired wall decorations and furniture based on model books, while tastemakers such as tapissier-decorateurs and retailers guided clients in creating coordinated interiors. From 1880 onward, the period room became the ideal, pushed by a supply-driven market, industrial and world exhibitions, and the rise of department stores. Concurrently, historical models were used as examples in Belgian applied arts education, while retrospective exhibitions and period rooms in museums stimulated the production of interior ensembless. The international dissemination of these models fostered European cross-pollination.
To test these trends against the domestic reality, 87 Ghent probate inventories (1850 and 1880) and approximately five hundred interior photographs were examined. These sources reveal a more diverse practice than suggested by normative sources. Four dominant interior styles emerged: a classic Louis Philippe interior, a "mixed" classic interior supplemented with non-Western objects and side furniture, a modern "artistic" interior with an eclectic mix of styles, and period rooms in French, Renaissance or Gothic style, through either high-quality or cheaper pre-produced historically inspired room sets based on model books. This variation reflected not only functional and pragmatic considerations but also gender roles, class emulation, escapism, and aesthetic ideals such as a picturesque or rustic taste. Additionally, trends penetrated slowly and exhibited longevity across social classes.
The research sheds new light on nineteenth-century Belgian interior history by viewing the period room not merely as a precursor to Art Nouveau or Modernism, but as a parallel phenomenon with lasting impact on daily life and interior aesthetics of the twentieth-century. While reform movements were influential, the study demonstrates that earlier styles, such as the Louis Philippe style, remained popular for decades. This finding underscores the slow evolution of trends and the importance of pragmatism and social aspirations in the development of period rooms, and highlights the necessity of a more fully integrated approach to interior history through a thorough juxtaposition of advice, production, and practice.}},
  author       = {{Nuytinck, Bart}},
  keywords     = {{interior design,interior history,applied arts,19th century,middle class,market,education,industrial exhibitions,antique trade,style,belgium,interior photography,model books,sales catalogs,historical revivalism}},
  language     = {{dut}},
  pages        = {{XV, 697}},
  publisher    = {{Ghent University. Faculty of Arts and Philosophy ; Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Faculty of Languages and Humanities}},
  school       = {{Ghent University}},
  title        = {{Een Frans salon en een renaissance eetkamer : stijl in de Belgische burgerlijke woning (1850-1914)}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}