Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
1st & 2nd July, 2011
Material Encounters of the East India Trade 1600-1830
From Artefact to Daily Life Environment
The « East India Company Style »
in the Eighteenth-Century Pondicherry Trading Post
Europe's Asian Centuries, Trading Eurasia 1600-1830
The University of Warwick
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
INTRODUCTION
Pondicherry
Map of India by d’Anville, mid-18th Century
Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – MCDI 967-1-8R
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
INTRODUCTION
Sources
Probate inventories of the French in India :
- Five trading posts : Pondicherry, Mahé, Karikal, Yanaon, Chandernagor
- National Archives of Overseas Territories (Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer)
Aix-en-Provence (France)
Museum collections :
- Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient – France
- Musée des Arts Décoratifs de l’océan Indien, La Réunion – France
- Museum of Pondicherry, Pondicherry - India
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
I. DESCRIPTION OF INTERIOR FURNISHING
The scope of analysis
- Sitting rooms or dining rooms in French homes
- Mostly pieces of furniture
- The « East India Company Style »
(local Indian types of wood and European Shapes)
Teak Cupboard
Rosewood Console Table
Embroidery Centre, Pondicherry (India)
Museum of Pondicherry (India)
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
I. DESCRIPTION OF INTERIOR FURNISHING
Teak Chest of Drawers, mid-18th Century, Pondicherry
Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – AF 3296
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
I. DESCRIPTION OF INTERIOR FURNISHING
Teak Chest of Drawers, mid-18th Century, Pondicherry
Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – AF 3296
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
I. DESCRIPTION OF INTERIOR FURNISHING
Teak Settee, mid-18th Century, Pondicherry
Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – AF 5861
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
I. DESCRIPTION OF INTERIOR FURNISHING
Teak Settee, mid-18th Century, Pondicherry
Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – AF 5861
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
I. DESCRIPTION OF INTERIOR FURNISHING
Composition of interior furnishing in Pondicherry French Homes
100
90
80
70
60
European
50
Asiatic
40
30
20
10
0
1700-1710
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
1710-1720
1720-1740
1740-1780
www.univ-ubs.fr
II. THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF EXOTISM
The Concept of Exoticism
- One of the decisive factors in the decision to acquire interior furnishing
- Exoticism: « the search for an elsewere, for something distant, not familiar, and
which fascinates and attracts »
- Three factors:
- Period of arrival in India
- Lenght of residence
- Current trends in the trading post
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
Evolution of the perception of Exoticism in Pondicherry
II. THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF EXOTISM
100
90
80
70
60
Asiatic
50
European
40
30
20
10
0
1700
1710
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
1720
1730
1740
1740
1750
1760
1770
1780
www.univ-ubs.fr
The desire to collect
III. FROM EXOTISM TO OPENING ONTO CIVILIZATIONS
- 1740’s / 1750’s: the desire for collecting grows
- Homogeneous collection of artefacts:
-
Prints from China
Terracotta statuettes from China
Stone or bronze Statues
Moorish weapons
The interest in civilizations
- Humanism: opening of minds
- Necessity for the French of knowing their interlocutors
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr
- The qualitative and quantitative analyses must be done in pairs to obtain a faithful
vision of the daily life environment
CONCLUSION
- Studies: on material, social, and cultural levels
- To go further:
- To correlate the composition of the interiors and the evolution of the perception
of exoticism
- To distinguish two different periods: forced / choosen acquisition
- Identification of the mechanisms of transition between the two periods
Kévin Le Doudic / kevin.le-doudic@univ-ubs.fr
www.univ-ubs.fr