Design for a Crystal Chandelier 19th century

Curator: Here we have an etching and drawing dating back to the 19th century titled "Design for a Crystal Chandelier," now residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It presents an interesting case for exploring how the decorative arts are valued. Editor: Immediately, it gives me a feeling of precarious beauty, you know? Like all that elaborate geometry held together by some delicate thread of intention. A kind of frozen waterfall of light, yearning to spill onto the ballroom floor. Curator: I’m intrigued by the drawing's starkness itself. The lack of color forces us to concentrate on the design elements, really highlighting the means of production involved in creating such a visually complex and functional object. How do these lines translate into materialized wealth? Editor: I guess for me it also invokes something quite private and secretive – like, the sketch anticipates the potential beauty and sparkle; a private fantasy on paper to begin with. It's very elegant. Curator: Exactly. This print enables widespread production. It served the demands of a burgeoning upper-middle class, eager to embrace symbols of luxury and gentility. What we often forget is the labour involved and how class stratifications determined access to these designs. Editor: When you see an etching like this, which at first might just strike one as "decorative", you realise its political subtext: Who commissioned it, how would have it being constructed, the working condition... Did artisans consider themselves, indeed, artists or only hand workers? Curator: Absolutely, and in that respect, objects like chandeliers, traditionally produced by skilled artisans, straddled that line, between high art and craft. And these are boundaries worth questioning through material analysis. Editor: It seems to me like they are always already overlapping... but maybe there are boundaries we still can not perceive properly today, hidden biases we haven't yet found! Curator: A potent point. It really showcases the multi-layered way of analyzing. Thanks for sharing your personal reflection; I hadn't quite looked at it that way before. Editor: You opened my eyes too, especially the bit regarding its commercial use, it brought to me other considerations for sure.