What we mean when we talk about style
The ‘Redolent’ Eglantine Table ( c .1568)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21500514 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eleanor Chan (0000-0002-7314-297X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 248-260 |
| Publication date | 2020-07-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Word & Image (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0266-6286 • E-ISSN: 1943-2178 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02666286.2019.1709345 |
| OpenAlex | W3087044642 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
Created c.1568 to commemorate a trio of dynastic marriages between the Cavendishes and the Talbots, the ‘Aeglentyne’ Table stands in the High Great Chamber at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire. Featuring an intricate three-panelled motif of musical instruments, gaming paraphernalia, and intertwining flowers borrowed from various continental prints, it has long been held as a masterpiece of English furniture. However, when approached through a traditional stylistic analysis, based upon the identification of tropes and features, the Eglantine Table runs the risk of falling under the category of ‘bad’ style: it is paratactic; it is epideictic. Such a judgement utterly misses the point of the Eglantine Table, and its visual strategies. ‘Style’ has become a ubiquitous term for the analysis of the things of visual culture. It allows the historian of visual culture to categorize into a shorthand that belies the sheer variety of the objects of study. The work of Willibald Sauerländer, amongst others, has long since argued for a deeper reflection on ‘style’ and a shift away from the ‘sheer abysmal vagueness’ of stylistic analysis. This paper seeks to respond to Sauerländer’s call by providing a sensitive and illuminating analysis of the style(s) of the Eglantine Table
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Literature · Visual arts · Computer Science · Historical Art and Culture Studies · History · Visual Culture and Art Theory
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |