A period room is a display that represents the interior design and decorative art of a particular historical social setting usually in a museum. Though it may incorporate elements of an individual real room that once existed somewhere, it is usually by its nature a composite and fictional piece.[1][2] Period rooms at encyclopedic museums may represent different countries and cultures, while those at historic houses may represent different eras of the same structure.[3] As with the glamorization of luxury in costume drama, this can be considered as a conservative genre that traditionally privileges Eurocentric elite views.[4]

Period room entrance hall from the 18th century Van Rensselaer Manor House originally located in Albany, New York - now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.

In the 21st century, the focus has shifted toward using period rooms in new ways[5] or in diversifying them.[6]

References

  1. ^ Craven, Wayne (2009). Gilded Mansions: Grand Architecture and High Society. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-393-06754-5.
  2. ^ "What are period rooms, really? –– Minneapolis Institute of Art". new.artsmia.org. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  3. ^ "Reconsidering the period room as a museum-made object". OUPblog. 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  4. ^ "Representing the Complicated History of American Interiors". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  5. ^ Loos, Ted (2013-02-21). "Setting a Place for History". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  6. ^ Migan, Darla (2021-11-15). "Period Rooms Usually Glorify the Aristocracy. With Its New Afrofuturist Room, the Met's Approach Is Different". Artnet News. Retrieved 2022-02-14.

External links

Categories