Designs for Two Chairs 1884 - 1892

Curator: What a subdued composition! There's an unassuming elegance about it. Editor: Indeed. This mixed-media piece, "Designs for Two Chairs," from sometime between 1884 and 1892, comes to us from Charles Hindley and Sons. Curator: It is fascinating to me how everyday objects become imbued with status. Are these chairs destined for a specific room, a specific ritual, based on the symbolic emblem on their backs? What do these upholstered heraldic images conceal or reveal? Editor: Well, knowing Hindley and Sons operated out of Oxford Street suggests a context geared towards consumerism and trade. They catered to a discerning clientele, where design and material quality were paramount. The subtle gradations achieved in the watercolor wash emphasize the careful craftsmanship they were proposing to deliver. The drawing itself is an advertisement, promising an aspirational lifestyle to its buyers. Curator: So the subtle coloring, the almost self-effacing quality of the designs becomes a code. It speaks to a restrained but deeply present cultural system where class and aspiration become meticulously indexed by everyday furniture. And to what psychological function does this all amount? Editor: I would say, to commerce! To a straightforward display of skill translated into commodity fetish. It shows the subtle, yet considerable work of rendering everyday things desirable and essential for sustaining a consumer culture. Curator: Even through its rendering of chairs as simple consumer items, this drawing, a material thing in itself, opens onto more extensive histories of cultural values. Editor: Right. Its simplicity speaks volumes about a certain production logic, one we often overlook when encountering 'high art.' Curator: So while not ostensibly freighted with symbolism, like a religious painting, this print presents just as much potential for historical understanding. Editor: Precisely, examining everyday objects helps demystify taste and class. I hadn't considered it that way until now!