The Last Wunderkammer : Curiosities in Private Collections between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Abstract

In his description of the magnificent Vanderbilt collection located on Fifth Avenue in New York, Earl Shinn pointed out the presence of a medieval Venetian ivory casket in the Japanese parlor. Wonder serves as the guiding principle for the display of objects selected according to their provenance and for their very different chronologies. In this context, eclecticism concerns more than a mere display of heterogeneous artifacts, it is a way to create resplendent interiors and to allow visitors sink into a sense of wonder. This chapter reconsiders the key concepts of curiosity and eclecticism, not just as a fashion or as display modes, but as new steps in the long-term history of the Wunderkammer.