The Student Salon Project unlocks the influence of the literary salon on early modern writing through historical objects and decolonial perspectives.
It is hard to imagine a world without cinnamon. The spice is found in the comforting and familiar: baked goods like cinnamon rolls, or scented candles. It has been enthusiastically adopted into social media make-up trends, as in the sultry but sweet allure of ‘Cinnamon Girl’ make-up. Well, cinnamon was popular even in the 17th … Continue reading Cinnamon and Chocolate in the Student Salon: An Immersive Experience
Insects are among the world’s wondrous flora and fauna that inspired the rich visual and material cultures of salons across Europe. In the 17th and 18th centuries, these gatherings in glittering rooms occupied an interesting position in British society, being social and domestic spaces that were also part of the scientific studies of botany and … Continue reading Shining Light on the Bug: Women and 17th and 18th Century English Entomology, Curiosity, and Commerce
Sometime between early 1779 and 1780, the poet Anna Seward put pen to paper to write her Elegy on Captain Cook. The British explorer’s death in Hawai’i was cause for national mourning. Anna’s poem rides the wave of popular British opinion at this time; many, Seward included, saw Captain James Cook as a heroic figure … Continue reading Harakeke and the Power to Save the World
I recently revisited a museum I remember going to as a child with my parents, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it had changed from my memories. Instead of an exhibit on an arduous journey aboard the Mayflower to the “New World” with no mention of the transatlantic slave trade or the attempted genocide … Continue reading All the Small Things: Salons and Trade Beads in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Britain
As we passed around objects during our student salon workshops I was reminded of a 2013 decorative arts pedagogical video called “This is Not a Chair,” where Harvard researchers from a variety of disciplines gave new identities to several seventeenth and eighteenth century chairs. Responses in the short film ranged from “this is not a … Continue reading “Instead of Just Looking”: Reflections on Our Workshops
What is the Student Salon? Or lo! The Board with Cups and Spoons is crown’d,The Berries crackle, and the Mill turns round. …At once they gratify their Scent and Taste,While fragrant Cups prolong the rich Repast. Alexander Pope, ‘The Rape of the Lock’ (1712) In Alexander Pope’s satiric verses, extravagance and wit suffuse a moment as … Continue reading The Cabinet Unlocked