DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENTS AND SOCIAL DYNAMICS IN COLONIAL SÃO PAULO

Abstract

This article proposes to analyze the material dimension of the social life of intermediate groups living in the city of São Paulo during the 18th century and dealing with trade. Therefore, we assume that the physical attributes of pieces of furniture not only inform about the utilitarian function of the object, but rather its uses indicate the reiteration and / or transformation of patterns of behavior and of family and social hierarchies. To develop the argument, first we will weave brief comments on the domestic space in São Paulo during the 18th century. Then we will concentrate on the analysis of the social use of some furniture in the interiors of commercial sectors houses, relating their existence with the socioeconomic changes the capital underwent due to the commercial activities that developed in São Paulo region because of the supply of mining areas of Minas Gerais, Goiás and Cuiabá.

Keywords
Domestic space; furniture; trade group; São Paulo