Das caixas da casa colonial às arcas do Museu Paulista

Abstract

This paper analyzes the way historians deal with different types of historical documents (considering their origins) based on a research conducted at the Paulista Museum of the University of São Paulo on the theme of domestic space and material culture in colonial São Paulo. We will discuss how a critical dialogue was established between the tridimensional sources - the pieces of the collection - and the textual sources produced in the original context of the domestic artifacts - especially inventories. Based on the cataloging of the collection, we analyze situations of approximation and incompatibility often created by the use of the terms by the contemporaries to designate certain pieces of furniture in the 18th and 19th centuries and the terms used in the process of pieces classification in museological institutions. In order to do so, we will shed light on boxes and chests, because these kind of furniture to contain and store were ubiquitous in the 18th century houses of the Portuguese Empire.