Materiele cultuur en levensstijl : een onderzoek naar de taal der dingen op het Nederlandse platteland in de 19e eeuw : de Zaanstreek, Oost-Groningen, Oost-Brabant

Using probate inventories as a source, this study describes the development of the material culture of the household in the Dutch countryside in the nineteenth century in three regions: the Zaanstreek, eastern Groningen, eastern Brabant. During the century a trend towards greater domesticity could be observed as demonstrated by the growing ownership of articles like stoves, bedsteads, carpets, mirrors, clocks, table-cloths, vases, pianos and from the process of room- differentiation: kitchen, bedroom, living room. The changes in material culture over time and the differences between the social classes within a region were more striking as those between regions. Already in the beginning of the nineteenth century regional differences did not play an important role in the material culture of the upper middle classes/higher classes. The regional differences were most important in the material culture of the richer farmers and middle classes. During the 19th century these regional differences decreased in strength. The differences in material culture between the farmers in the three regions showed different social and economic positions as well as different reactions to the process of social and economic change.