ABSTRACT
The material culture of the past is often treated as silent. Although sixteenth-century texts comment on the ‘racket’ of wooden shoes during dances1 or the ‘noise of plates and knives’ in a kitchen during the preparation of a meal,2 when we examine such historical objects today, their cacophony is forgotten.3 Yet the range of sounds objects made – and the cultural and economic forces required to produce those sounds – can reveal valuable information that mute examinations ignore. In this chapter on music and material culture I will consider how we can explore international trade, collaborations between craftsmen, aesthetic choices and fashions, and changing social practices and values in the early modern period by listening to musical objects.
