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This module will examine the production, retailing and consumption of luxury goods in eighteenth-century Europe with particular reference to Ireland. Who were the arbiters of taste and fashion during this period? What was new? How did developments in terms of fashionable living generate keen demand for new categories of goods such as silver or ceramic tea wares? The supremacy of French taste during the first half of the eighteenth century will be investigated as will the impact of British commercial expansion. The way in which luxury goods were manufactured, advertised and sold will be examined using both modern and eighteenth-century sources to develop a closer understanding of the objects.
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