Books

The Tastemakers: British Dealers and the Anglo-Gallic Interior, 1785-1865

The Tastemakers: British Dealers and the Anglo-Gallic Interior, 1785-1865

$65.00 at The Getty Museum.

Diana Davis In this volume, Diana Davis demonstrates how London dealers invented a new and visually splendid decorative style that combined the contrasting tastes of two nations. Departing from the conventional narrative that depicts dealers as purveyors of antiquarianism, Davis repositions them as innovators who were key to transforming old art objects from ancien régime France into cherished “antiques” and, equally, as creators of new and modified French-inspired furniture, bronze work, and porcelain. The…