Le Doudic / From Artefact to Daily Life Environment The « East India Company Style » in the Eighteenth-Century Pondicherry Trading Post Europe's Asian Centuries, Trading Eurasia The University of Warwick Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 1 st & 2 nd July, 2011 Material Encounters of the East India Trade

Le Doudic / I NTRODUCTION Map of India by d’Anville, mid-18 th Century Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – MCDI R Pondich erry

Le Doudic / I NTRODUCTION Probate inventories of the French in India : -Five trading posts : Pondicherry, Mahé, Karikal, Yanaon, Chandernagor -National Archives of Overseas Territories (Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer) Aix-en-Provence (France) Sources Museum collections : -Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient – France -Musée des Arts Décoratifs de l’océan Indien, La Réunion – France -Museum of Pondicherry, Pondicherry - India

Le Doudic / I. D ESCRIPTION OF I NTERIOR F URNISHING Teak Cupboard Embroidery Centre, Pondicherry (India) Rosewood Console Table Museum of Pondicherry (India) The scope of analysis -Sitting rooms or dining rooms in French homes -Mostly pieces of furniture -The « East India Company Style » (local Indian types of wood and European Shapes)

Le Doudic / I. D ESCRIPTION OF I NTERIOR F URNISHING Teak Chest of Drawers, mid-18 th Century, Pondicherry Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – AF 3296

Le Doudic / I. D ESCRIPTION OF I NTERIOR F URNISHING Teak Chest of Drawers, mid-18 th Century, Pondicherry Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – AF 3296

Le Doudic / I. D ESCRIPTION OF I NTERIOR F URNISHING Teak Settee, mid-18 th Century, Pondicherry Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – AF 5861

Le Doudic / I. D ESCRIPTION OF I NTERIOR F URNISHING Teak Settee, mid-18 th Century, Pondicherry Musée de la Compagnie des Indes de la Ville de Lorient (France) – AF 5861

Le Doudic / I. D ESCRIPTION OF I NTERIOR F URNISHING Composition of interior furnishing in Pondicherry French Homes

Le Doudic / II. T HE E VOLUTION OF THE C ONCEPT OF E XOTISM The Concept of Exoticism -One of the decisive factors in the decision to acquire interior furnishing -Exoticism: « the search for an elsewere, for something distant, not familiar, and which fascinates and attracts » -Three factors: -Period of arrival in India -Lenght of residence -Current trends in the trading post

Le Doudic / II. T HE E VOLUTION OF THE C ONCEPT OF E XOTISM Evolution of the perception of Exoticism in Pondicherry

Le Doudic / III. F ROM E XOTISM TO OPENING ONTO C IVILIZATIONS -1740’s / 1750’s: the desire for collecting grows -Homogeneous collection of artefacts: -Prints from China -Terracotta statuettes from China -Stone or bronze Statues -Moorish weapons The desire to collect The interest in civilizations -Humanism: opening of minds -Necessity for the French of knowing their interlocutors

Le Doudic / C ONCLUSION -The qualitative and quantitative analyses must be done in pairs to obtain a faithful vision of the daily life environment -Studies: on material, social, and cultural levels -To go further: -To correlate the composition of the interiors and the evolution of the perception of exoticism -To distinguish two different periods: forced / choosen acquisition -Identification of the mechanisms of transition between the two periods