Hanging Comb Rack c. 1939

Curator: This meticulous drawing captures what appears to be a wooden comb rack from around 1939. The piece, titled "Hanging Comb Rack," is attributed to Frank Budash and rendered primarily in pencil. Editor: It has a strangely poignant quality for something so… practical. There’s an undeniable folk art charm, but the strong lines and prominent grain give it a sense of crafted purpose. Almost as if it embodies utilitarian pride. Curator: That practicality speaks to the intended function of this comb rack and perhaps a larger socio-economic trend toward functional art as decoration. We can consider this artist's labor and how it contributes to both the object’s material qualities and its social value. Did he benefit from his skills or his craftsmanship, what social systems shaped him, who consumed this art, and in what ways does it reveal a system of material and economic exchanges? Editor: I’m struck by the overt symbolism in the rack's design. Look at the prominent placement of the eagle and what looks like star motifs carved directly into the wood. This was a period marked by profound economic hardship and burgeoning patriotic fervor. Curator: Absolutely. Consider the materials themselves, the pencil, the paper, even the represented wood: all relatively inexpensive and readily accessible. That, in itself, can signify Budash’s available materials at the time and/or desired cost for production, consumption, and sale. It prompts considerations around consumption habits from the time. Who owned the source-comb rack in the drawing, where did that one reside and who was Budash working for? Was he doing it because that’s the material he could acquire at the time? Editor: I wonder what this work's exhibition context would have been at the time. The imagery is potent, almost nationalistic, yet it’s applied to an everyday object, a comb rack. I imagine this drawing being displayed at community art shows, demonstrating the artistic abilities that the citizens harbored but might not otherwise express given a society of factory work. Curator: Examining "Hanging Comb Rack" through a material lens illuminates aspects of social context, craft production, and artistic intent beyond what may seem immediately evident. The lines and careful details provide some glimpse into this society's materiality, perhaps illuminating socioeconomic standards and the labor that brought this decorative folk art drawing into our realm. Editor: Indeed, seeing art like this allows us a glimpse into history’s values and allows for new contexts that reveal unique approaches to social and institutional change within our past—insights and questions we might otherwise overlook.