Design for a Wall with Three Windows 1841 - 1884

Charles Hindley and Sons, a London-based decorating firm, created this design for a wall with three windows. It’s a drawing in graphite on paper, likely dating from the late 19th century. Consider the context of Victorian England. As industrial wealth grew, so did a desire among the burgeoning middle class for lavish displays of domestic comfort. The architecture of a home became a canvas for expressing status and taste. Here, the symmetrical design, classical columns, and ornate drapery speak to the values of formality and order prized at the time. But the design also hints at the labor required to maintain such elaborate interiors. The textiles, the polished surfaces, the very structure of the building – all relied on the labor of often invisible working-class individuals, many of whom were women. The drawing then becomes a silent witness to the complex relationships of power that shaped domestic life. Think about the stories that walls could tell. Consider whose voices were amplified and whose were silenced within them.