Design for Two Red Fringed Curtains with Gold Pelmets 1800 - 1850

Curator: Editor: Here we have, “Design for Two Red Fringed Curtains with Gold Pelmets,” an anonymous watercolor and print work on paper, dating roughly from 1800 to 1850. I’m immediately struck by the... theatricality of the design, the almost stage-like quality. What can you tell me about this? Curator: I notice that it doesn't show a 'final' art product, instead illustrating preliminary material in production: these luxury items are represented through prints and watercolors on paper. Focusing on the materiality of this 'design,' how might we explore the social context? Who had access to these luxury furnishings, and what kinds of labor would have gone into producing them? Editor: That's a great point. So it’s not just about the aesthetic but about the social and economic systems that made such luxury possible. It almost seems like it’s critiquing it too, by showcasing a design instead of the real deal, thus bringing awareness of production? Curator: Precisely! This piece invites us to consider the networks of artisans, manufacturers, and consumers involved in the creation of fashionable interiors, challenging any strict high/low art distinctions, since such prints also functioned as modes of distribution for these patterns, what did you notice about the chair below the curtain design? Editor: That the curtain pattern appears in the textile pattern on the chair itself! It reinforces how decorative planning brings every single detail in dialogue, reinforcing and magnifying its patterns through coordinated crafting… Curator: Yes! How do you imagine that all the textiles involved in one household served these aesthetic, coordination purposes but also more broadly to insulate large cold rooms from drafts, thus transforming and controlling people's very experiences of the space? Editor: I had not considered that aspect before, I had focused solely on how decor amplifies excess. Curator: Exactly; material culture mediates lived experiences and access to privilege. This is all that design signifies. Editor: So by studying the design itself – the medium and method – we get a richer understanding of a particular social reality through patterns and objects. Thank you.