Elderly Lady's Bonnet c. 1937

Curator: This drawing from around 1937 is titled "Elderly Lady's Bonnet." It's rendered with pencil on paper. Editor: Well, that’s quite an austere presentation. It's like an entomological study, but instead of butterflies, we have bonnets pinned for observation. The lack of color and the sheer number of renderings give a rather clinical feel. Curator: Indeed. What's compelling here is less about aesthetics and more about class and craft. Consider the historical context—such elaborate headwear was disappearing from fashion during this period. Drawing these bonnets meticulously could have been a conscious decision to preserve a certain kind of material culture linked to women. Editor: So, a record of vanishing skill, a certain set of skills around the making of elaborate garments. I mean, think about the lace making and sewing implied here; skills passed down through generations of women now replaced by machine production. Look at the way the pencil suggests textures, different weaves. I imagine those bonnets were weighty, complex creations. Curator: Exactly. And note how the act of drawing itself mirrors those traditions of meticulous labor. Each line echoes the time invested in the actual bonnets. But who was this woman, what's her identity here. What story she carry beyond class itself? Editor: Hmm, perhaps the drawing underscores absence more than presence. A mere study. The artist's labor gives this series life, beyond just simple garments Curator: Good point. This piece offers a unique commentary, highlighting a culture through very particular objects that women had an important connection to. It is something really specific about representing woman in the history. Editor: I appreciate seeing the artistry implied by clothing—the process is, in its own right, meaningful beyond the function of dressing.