Interior Design witha Gun Cabinet and Two Chairs against a Green Wall Adorned with Trophies 1880 - 1900

This interior design was drawn anonymously in pen and watercolor, showing an ideal room. We can explore it as a sign of the times and the place in which it was made. Hunting trophies and a gun cabinet reference a very specific social role, that of a gentleman who owns land, and has the leisure to pursue country sports. The design reflects elite culture; it’s a visual code of class and power in a European context. A historian might want to research the development of hunting culture in, say, 18th- or 19th-century Britain, or France, to understand it better. They could consult country house inventories, sporting prints, and literature of the period. By looking into the specifics of the room’s function, and design, we can learn much about the social norms of the time. It becomes clear that our understanding of this art is deeply contingent on understanding this specific social and institutional context.