Style and Function in Roman Decoration
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A01=Ellen Swift
accessories
ancient social identity
art
Author_Ellen Swift
brooches
Category=AFT
Category=AGA
Classical Greek Art
crossbow
Crossbow Brooches
Decorated Art Objects
decorative
decorative arts research
Dining Equipment
domestic artefacts analysis
dress
Dress Accessories
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Esquiline Treasure
Figurative Motifs
figure
Figure Ground Reversal
ground
Late Roman Art Industry
luxury consumption studies
Main Reception Room
minor arts interpretation
Mosaic Floor
Mosaic Schemes
Mummy Portraits
Non-figurative Designs
Opus Sectile Floor
period
Piazza Delle Corporazioni
Projecta Casket
reversal
Roman Decoration
Roman decorative objects social function
Roman material culture
Scale Pattern
Sevso Treasure
Silver Plate
Swastika Motif
Thetford Treasure
Threshold Motifs
Young Man
Product details
- ISBN 9780754665632
- Weight: 544g
- Dimensions: 174 x 246mm
- Publication Date: 14 Apr 2009
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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This important book puts forward a new interpretation of Roman decorative art, focusing on the function of decoration in the social context. It examines the three principal areas of social display and conspicuous consumption in the Roman world: social space, entertainment, and dress, and discusses the significance of the decoration of objects and interiors within these contexts, drawing examples from both Rome and its environs, and the Western provinces, from the early Imperial period to Late Antiquity. Focusing on specific examples, including mosaics and other interior décor, silver plate, glass and pottery vessels, and jewellery and other dress accessories, Swift demonstrates the importance of decoration in creating and maintaining social networks and identities and fostering appropriate social behaviour, and its role in perpetuating social convention and social norms. It is argued that our understanding of stylistic change and the relationship between this and the wider social context in the art of the Roman period is greatly enhanced by an initial focus on the particular social relationships fostered by decorated objects and spaces. The book demonstrates that an examination of so-called 'minor art' is fundamental in any understanding of the relationship between art and its social context, and aims to reinvigorate debate on the value of decoration and ornament in the Roman period and beyond.
Ellen Swift is Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Kent, UK
