Silver and Furniture: Aesthetics and Value from the Middle Ages to Now

We are delighted to announce that the Furniture History Society and the Silver Society will be joining forces in Spring 2026 to hold a one-day symposium on the theme of Silver and Furniture: Aesthetics and Value, from the Middle Ages to Now.

This one day conference explores the relationship between furniture and silver in terms of valuing, owning, describing and making. Furniture displays and stores silver; how did the two combine in princely, ecclesiastical, domestic and retail settings, and how did viewers react? Do collectors prize silver in its native or worked state, in terms of its place of origin, as they might a rare wood? What prominence do artists give furniture and silver in paintings, and how does furniture frame depictions of metalwork? How do inventories and chronicles describe silver and associated furnishings? Did designers and manufacturers of silver and furniture work collaboratively, or mutually influence each other? Did all societies across the globe value these materials equally, and has their relative importance and material worth fluctuated over the centuries?

A full programme for the day will be listed on the website later in the year.  Tickets will be available on Eventbrite early in 2026.

A Call for Papers can be found here.

The Montagu Family and an Unknown Attendant (1730-1735) by William Hogarth (1697-1764) oil on canvas. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection