Home Sweet Home: British Interiors 1500-2000

SHORT COURSE: Discover the social, architectural and artistic history of the British home, from Tudor times to the present day.

Home has always played a central role in peoples’ lives and in its many different manifestations, whether a palace, grand mansion or an ordinary house, all offer fascinating insights into different attitudes to class, gender, cleanliness and technology. Explore not only the key styles of decoration and furnishings, but also the changing roles and functions of individual rooms. Examine the increasing demand for privacy within bedrooms, the development of separate dining and drawing rooms, and the technical innovations within kitchens and bathrooms. This course will also look at
features such as heating, lighting and plumbing, and the social conventions that were associated with particular activities such as sleeping, eating and entertaining. Sessions will include lectures, gallery talks and visits to the prints and drawings study room.

Wednesdays, 16 January – 13 March 2013 (Half term: 20 February), 2:00pm - 4:30pm.