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Throughout human history luxury textiles have been used as a marker
of importance, power and distinction. Yet, as the essays in this
collection make clear, the term 'luxury' is one that can be fraught
with difficulties for historians. Focusing upon the consumption,
commercialisation and production of luxury textiles in Italy and
the Low Countries during the late medieval and early modern period,
this volume offers a fascinating exploration of the varied and
subtle ways that luxury could be interpreted and understood in the
past. Beginning with the consumption of luxury textiles, it takes
the reader on a journey back from the market place, to the
commercialisation of rich fabrics by an international network of
traders, before arriving at the workshop to explore the Italian and
Burgundian world of production of damasks, silks and tapestries.
The first part of the volume deals with the consumption of luxury
textiles, through an investigation of courtly purchases, as well as
urban and clerical markets, before the chapters in part two move on
to explore the commercialisation of luxury textiles by merchants
who facilitated their trade from the cities of Lucca, Florence and
Venice. The third part then focusses upon manufacture, encouraging
consideration of the concept of luxury during this period through
the Italian silk industry and the production of high-quality
woollens in the Low Countries. Graeme Small draws the various
themes of the volume together in a conclusion that suggests
profitable future avenues of research into this important subject.
Throughout human history luxury textiles have been used as a marker
of importance, power and distinction. Yet, as the essays in this
collection make clear, the term 'luxury' is one that can be fraught
with difficulties for historians. Focusing upon the consumption,
commercialisation and production of luxury textiles in Italy and
the Low Countries during the late medieval and early modern period,
this volume offers a fascinating exploration of the varied and
subtle ways that luxury could be interpreted and understood in the
past. Beginning with the consumption of luxury textiles, it takes
the reader on a journey back from the market place, to the
commercialisation of rich fabrics by an international network of
traders, before arriving at the workshop to explore the Italian and
Burgundian world of production of damasks, silks and tapestries.
The first part of the volume deals with the consumption of luxury
textiles, through an investigation of courtly purchases, as well as
urban and clerical markets, before the chapters in part two move on
to explore the commercialisation of luxury textiles by merchants
who facilitated their trade from the cities of Lucca, Florence and
Venice. The third part then focusses upon manufacture, encouraging
consideration of the concept of luxury during this period through
the Italian silk industry and the production of high-quality
woollens in the Low Countries. Graeme Small draws the various
themes of the volume together in a conclusion that suggests
profitable future avenues of research into this important subject.
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