Sheet with overall pattern of circles and ovals 1800 - 1900

This small patterned sheet, now in the Met, was made with ink on paper by an anonymous maker. The repeated motifs of circles and ovals, point to a design intended for textile production. Consider the labor implied in the artwork's production. The pattern may have been quickly executed, but its translation into woven cloth would have been far more time-consuming. The even distribution of the pattern suggests a mechanized form of textile production, and the question of how designs move between the hand and the machine is raised. Was the artist simply providing the source idea, or also involved in realizing the image in manufactured form? In any case, this sheet reminds us that design and craft are deeply intertwined with the social and economic contexts of labor and consumption. Its relatively humble status as a sketch shouldn't blind us to its ambition as a precursor to mass production, and its relevance to our understanding of the relationship between art and industry.