Interior Decorating Nineteenth-Century France

"This book locates the beginnings of the interior design profession in nineteenth-century France, when an intense interest in the decoration of the domestic interior took hold at all levels of society. Drawing on an abundance of contemporary materials, including collecting and advice manuals, pattern books, illustrated magazines, and department store catalogs, it demonstrates how a growing visual culture, encouraged by new techniques of image-making, enabled the as-yet-unnamed profession of interior designer to take shape. The book recognizes the dependence of the trades on the artistic and public visual appeal of their work, establishing crucial links between the fields of art history, material and visual culture, and design history." -- Back cover.