Keeping up appearances: redecorating the domestic interior in late eighteenth-century Dublin

Abstract:The fashion for neoclassical interior decoration in Dublin, prevalent from the early 1770s to c. 1800, was also reflected in the updating of older houses in the new style. While it is tempting to view such redecorating projects as evidence solely of eighteenth-century modishness—the domestic interior embodying a conspicuous display of social status and prescient attitudes to fashion and taste—it is clear that practical considerations, such as the maintenance and refurbishment of rooms, were equally imperative. This paper will explore the variety of motives, as well as the range of options—from the remodelling of particular apartments to the repair and restoration of furnishings—available to the eighteenth-century home-owner.