The Art Newspaper

Designing the “poetic home”

A thorough appraisal of 19th-century interior decoration

By Charlotte Gere. Web only
Published online: 12 August 2009

It is probably no coincidence that the design and organization of the domestic interior is the hot topic of the moment. Economic downturn forces home-owners to make the best (in every sense) of their home and there are obvious clues to how to do this from how it was managed in the past. However, contrary to the expectations that may be raised by its large format and lavish presentation, this new study of 19th-century interior decoration is no peepshow of the rooms and their contents. This might leave the reader unprepared for the densely argued investigation of Europe-wide economic, social and artistic factors that went towards the creation of the “poetic home”. Muthesius has subjected 19th-century writings in more than three languages and a host of illustrated publications to close analysis in pursuit of the many elements that went into creating the emerging “language” of interior decoration. Home-owners could draw on a whole new band of authors and experts, designers and decorators, manufacturers and furnishing companies, importers, shops and bazaars in creating a fashionable interior. The closely packed footnotes are testament to the extraordinary breadth of this author’s researches.

Muthesius looks at the roles of the furniture, the decorator, the architect, the purchaser and the way manuals shaped choices; this is followed by sections on materials, on atmosphere, on character and the legacy of these diverse influences. The multiplicity of sources ensures that the book will be required reading way outside the narrow definition implied by the title. The investigation of the influence of, for example, the Altdeutsch style and other nationalistic impulses illuminate other areas of decorative art and design. Thoroughness is the watchword (no surprise to admirers of his award-winning publication on The English Terraced House), and the topics addressed in each chapter take this subject in the academic direction already sign-posted in books by, for example, Deborah Cohen (Household Gods: The British and their Possessions, 2006) and Judith Neiswander (The Cosmopolitan Interior: Liberalism and the Victorian Home, 1870–1914, 2008).

Stefan Muthesius, The Poetic Home: Designing the 19th-century Domestic Interior (Thames & Hudson), 352 pp, £39.95 (hb) ISBN 9780500514191