Design for Decorated Archway, Monaco Pavillion 1878

Editor: So, this is Jules Lachaise's "Design for Decorated Archway, Monaco Pavilion" from 1878. It's a watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite drawing, or possibly a print now at the Met. I am really struck by the mix of detailed rendering and unfinished sketch here. It seems so intentional! What are your thoughts when you look at this? Curator: What intrigues me is the deliberate articulation of material and process. Lachaise lays bare the means of production; consider the juxtaposition of fully rendered ceramic details alongside the sketched, almost ghostly, architectural framework. Why present the labor involved so explicitly? Editor: I hadn't thought about the labor aspect so much. The ceramic decoration does pop, it has to be said. Are you suggesting it’s making a statement about craft versus industrial production, or something? Curator: Precisely! The "CERAMIQUE" inscription demands we acknowledge the artistry, the skill involved in ceramic production during a period of industrial transformation. It questions the hierarchy between decorative arts and so-called “high” art. What does this placement of “ceramique” draw our attention to, in terms of materiality? Editor: That’s interesting. It challenges what we might typically value in a design for an archway—its structure or form perhaps? Instead, it makes the surfacing and the skilled labor central. I never thought a pavilion plan could be a statement about production itself! Curator: Exactly. It reframes our understanding of architectural design as not solely about form, but as a showcase – and celebration – of materiality and craftsmanship, inviting us to question the role of labor in creating these spaces. It’s a potent visual commentary. Editor: I'll definitely look at design drawings differently from now on, thinking about what they reveal about the making process, not just the end result!