Curiosity Cabinets

 

Curiosity cabinets have existed since the 16th century and continued to thrive ever since.

The term cabinet originally described a room rather than a piece of furniture. Modern terminology would categorize the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings), and antiquities. In addition to the most famous and best documented cabinets of rulers and aristocrats, members of the merchant class and early practitioners of science in Europe formed collections that were precursors to museums.

Cabinets of curiosities served not only as collections to reflect the particular curiosities of their curators but also as social devices to establish and uphold rank in society. There are said to be two main types of cabinets. As R. J. W. Evans notes, there could be "the princely cabinet, serving a largely representational function, and dominated by aesthetic concerns and a marked predilection for the exotic," or the less grandiose, "the more modest collection of the humanist scholar or virtuoso, which served more practical and scientific purposes." Evans goes on to explain that "no clear distinction existed between the two categories: all collecting was marked by curiosity, shading into credulity, and by some sort of universal underlying design"

Mine is a simple affair and serves as a place when I can display objects I adore. It often changes with the seasons or simply because I found found other tresasures to display.

Butterflies are creatures that continue to fascinate me hence I always have a few on display.

Sea shells transport me to far off places and some not so far away. They remind me of our annual vacation in Normandy, previous holidays on carribean islands and childhood summers spent in New Zealand.

I love antique books so there are always a few on display. I cannot resist old books, there is something that attracts me to them like a moth to a flame.

Happy collecting ♥

Leeann x