Rooms of Rank

How Royal Interiors and Objects Materialized Court Hierarchy in 18th-century Sweden

In my doctoral project, I examine how three royal women: the queens consort Sofia Magdalena and Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta and the princess Sofia Albertina formed their identities within their interiors at the Royal Palace and the Palace of the Hereditary Prince in Stockholm during 1766-1829.

By examining the material culture within the interiors and collections of decorative arts and belongings, I make evident how and what circumstances and levels of personal agency as women, formed their owner’s everyday life. Making these objects and the interiors contain them into poignant cases of how everyday life and living at the Swedish court during the 18th-century was formed, experienced and lived by the queens consorts and princess.

Connecting these specific micro-histories to the broader influence of court life and the arts: as court ordinances and protocol, the architectural history with the upswing of Neo-classicism, the enlightenment and the emergence and spread of different material and visual cultures.