Juwelen. Kostbare Objekte zwischen Alltagsökonomie und Sinnstiftung

The paper takes an object-centred approach that combines perspectives of social and economic history with those of cultural history. In looking at the urban environment of an imperial town in early modern Germany, this paper investigates the many ways in which ordinary and noble men and women interacted with gems and jewels, assigning them economic, social, imaginary, or personal meaning. While the circulation of jewels sheds further light on what has been termed an ‘economy of makeshifts’, the analysis of inheritance, gift-giving, and collecting practices show how jewels were transformed into identity goods

Aesthetics · Art · Cultural inheritance · Economics · Economy · Epistemology · Literature · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · The Imaginary · European history and politics · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · Philosophy · Psychology