Forthcoming seminar, 2 February 2015: Dr Barbara Lasic, “De Bons Citoyens: John and Josephine Bowes’ collecting of Revolutionary ephemera”

Passionate and eclectic collectors, John and Josephine Bowes assembled one of the largest art collections of the second half of the 19th century which included Old Master Paintings, Renaissance objets d’art and eighteenth-century decorative arts. Now on display in the palatial museum that they founded in County Durham, the collection is a testament to the wide-ranging taste and philanthropic aspirations of its founders.

While John and Josephine’s passion for the material culture of the Ancien Régime has been amply discussed, their interest in French Revolutionary ephemera has so far been largely overlooked. The present seminar will examine the pro and counter-revolutionary contents of this discreet collection, its methods of acquisitions and links with the rest of the collections. It will locate John and Josephine’s practices within those of a wider network of collectors and hopes to offer a nuanced reading of John and Josephine’s critical historical engagement with the 18th-century.

Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU

2 February 2015, 18:00