Drie boekenkasten 1895

Léon Laroche made this print titled 'Drie boekenkasten', or 'Three Bookcases' which presents various models for bookcases. These designs reflect a moment in time when the domestic space was being re-evaluated, and furniture became a reflection of one's identity and status. The bookcases are not just functional objects, but cultural artifacts. Each design suggests a different kind of owner and perhaps, a different kind of intellectual pursuit. The simple bookcase for the everyman versus the more elaborate for the petit bourgeois. These designs offer us a glimpse into the social values of the time, where access to knowledge and the display of it, were increasingly democratized yet still stratified by class. What does it mean to have access to books, to knowledge, and how does it shape who we are? How do the objects that surround us in our domestic spaces reflect our aspirations?