Looked At! Paravent from the Museum Europäischer Kulturen

Film

The richly decorated paravent from the Museum Europäischer Kulturen is a very large object in the permanent exhibition of our museum in Dahlem. It shows colourful picture worlds on which there is much to discover. In accordance with a fashion of the late 18th century, especially in the Victorian period, they became rich room decorations collaged with wafers and cut-out pictures. This type of collage became very popular in the 19th century, especially in England, and was also used for albums. With their compositions, the pictures told stories; at the same time, they were coveted collector's items. The typographical note "designed in England, printed in Germany" on a fan-shaped Christmas greeting refers to the cross-border world of images and the globalisation of consumer worlds.

Picture: Paravent (around 1900) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum Europäischer Kulturen / Gigapixel - Google
Animation: Retina Fabrik