Dr Silvia Davoli

My research explores aspects of European collecting and taste during the 18th and 19th centuries. I am particularly interested in the way art collections were organised and displayed and how they influenced and produced knowledge about the Past, about Religions and about distant Civilizations.

I am currently collaborating with Professor Abigail Green on the Arts and Humanities Research Council Project titled “Jewish Country Houses- Objects, Networks and People”. Together with Dr Thomas Stammers (Durham University) I oversee the collecting strand. You can read more about the project here (https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/jewish-country-houses)

Since 2013 I am Principal Curator at Strawberry Hill and have undertaken a major research into the provenance of the collection of the 18th-century collector and art historian Horace Walpole, which resulted in an exhibition held in 2018-2019.

• History of Collecting and Taste 18th and 19th century
• Provenance Research
• Aesthetic and cultural syncretism

I hold a Ph.D. in Cultural History and History of Art that focuses on the collections of Eastern and European art formed by the Parisian banker and Republican Henry Cernuschi (1821-1896) (forthcoming publication with Brill Publishers). My specialization in the History of Collections reflects my research methodology, which privileges a multidisciplinary and cultural approach, encompassing the material and economic realities and the history of mentalities. I am also specialised in provenance research as a way to illuminate the social, economic and historic context in which objects were produced and collected. My current research focuses on Orientalism and Jewish collecting culture.

https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/losttreasures/

I am member of the steering committee of the Society for the History of Collecting: https://societyhistorycollecting.org