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Stocks and flows: Material culture and consumption behaviour in early modern Venice (c. 1650–1800)

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  • Mattia Viale

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of consumption practices in Venice in the long eighteenth century through the combined use of post‐mortem inventories and household budgets. Although Italy experienced a period of relative decline between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, our findings suggest that Venetian households enjoyed a rich and vibrant material culture that was fully comparable with those of the most advanced European urban economies. However, although new products, practices, and fashions were adopted by Venetian society, the architecture of consumption did not undergo sudden and extreme changes; rather, consumption was gradually refined, following the path that it had begun during the Renaissance. We therefore argue that the Venetian economy did not experience a consumer revolution but, instead, consumer evolution. Moreover, this study shows that sophisticated consumption practices were not exclusive to the more dynamic economies of the continent but were widespread even in those regions that were victims of the Little Divergence. We thus suggest that the relationship between consumption development and economic development was not necessarily causal and that the diffusion of new consumption practices throughout society was a necessary, but insufficient, prerequisite for economic take‐off.

Suggested Citation

  • Mattia Viale, 2024. "Stocks and flows: Material culture and consumption behaviour in early modern Venice (c. 1650–1800)," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(2), pages 416-443, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:77:y:2024:i:2:p:416-443
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.13275
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eminegül Karababa, 2012. "Investigating early modern Ottoman consumer culture in the light of Bursa probate inventories," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 65(1), pages 194-219, February.
    2. Kwass,Michael, 2022. "The Consumer Revolution, 1650–1800," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521139595, October.
    3. Mattia Viale & Edoardo Demo & Roberto Ricciuti, 2021. "Economic Inequality in Early Modern Venice: Evidence from a New Archival Source," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 95-113.
    4. Kwass,Michael, 2022. "The Consumer Revolution, 1650–1800," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521198707, October.
    5. Susan Flavin, 2011. "Consumption and material culture in sixteenth‐century Ireland," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(4), pages 1144-1174, November.
    6. Bruno Blondé & Ilja Van Damme, 2010. "Retail growth and consumer changes in a declining urban economy: Antwerp (1650–1750)," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 63(3), pages 638-663, August.
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