Kast met spiegel after 1878

Curator: This delicate piece before us, “Kast met spiegel,” translates to "cabinet with mirror.” Created after 1878, this drawing combines watercolor and ink, offering a glimpse into the design aesthetics of the late 19th century. Editor: My first impression is one of contained elegance, a kind of formal reserve softened by the delicate watercolors. It projects a sense of aspirational domesticity. Curator: Precisely. When viewing it, consider the rise of the middle class in this period and their aspirations to emulate aristocratic taste through decorative objects like this. This rendering likely circulated among design journals, helping shape those tastes. Editor: It feels intensely gendered too, doesn’t it? This cabinet as a site for performance, preparation, the gaze... the mirror inviting a perpetual cycle of self-assessment and adjustment, particularly for women in the Victorian era. Curator: It's fascinating to think about how these kinds of designs influenced notions of femininity and domesticity. You see elements borrowed from earlier French styles, particularly in the ornamental details, signaling good taste and cultural refinement. What do you suppose its function was in social settings? Editor: Potentially display – somewhere to store prized possessions that guests could view, announcing the owner’s wealth and cultivation. It’s interesting to think of it functioning both as a private and public space. Its physical confines would allow the placement of a particular persona within a confined societal structure, and I wonder, too, about access. Whose things were displayed here, whose gaze was authorized, whose reflection was welcomed by the mirror. Curator: I agree, and if we bring in that notion of restricted or encouraged gaze, consider how the institution of the art world in itself and how works were acquired or sold at the time was another reflection. Editor: Viewing this piece has me rethinking domestic spaces and how the objects within become extensions of our curated identities. Curator: Indeed. The convergence of the domestic space, consumer culture, and emerging gender roles is a poignant one to contemplate.