Vanished Comforts - setting the context for the furniture and furnishings of Scotland 1500 - 1700.

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This pioneering research seeks to fill a major void in our understanding of Scottish material culture during the Renaissance and Early Modern Periods - c. 1500 - 1700. It will focus principally upon identifying the type, quantity and quality of household furnishings and furniture in use in the greater houses. This is completely new territory since, outside music and literature, the effect of the Renaissance on Scotland has been underestimated or ignored. Using, primarily, the rich contemporary household inventories, this research will provide a historical frame and chronology for the NMS' national collections, within the context of similar material held by other organisations - such as local museums and the National Trust for Scotland. Building upon recent architectural scholarship, it should deepen if not revolutionise our perception and our understanding of Scottish culture during the Renaissance. It should also add to our knowledge of where the furniture came from and the patterns of patronage that caused them to be in Scotland. In particular, the research will address the hitherto unacknowledged role played by soft furnishings and textiles.The doctoral task will be to relate manuscript evidence - primarily inventories and testaments, but also, where available, records of commissioning or of import - to artefacts; and then to relate that to illuminate contemporary research about the use of the buildings. The outcome will influence both the way we understand the period and - in particular - the NMS' approach to describing and presenting the artefacts.