Konijnen en ornamenten 1896

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet created this sketch of rabbits and ornaments on paper at an unknown date. Lion Cachet, born in the Netherlands but who spent much of his life in South Africa, lived through the Second Boer War and both World Wars. The rabbits, rendered with a delicate yet unfinished quality, evoke a sense of vulnerability. Rabbits have a complex symbolism; they’re associated with innocence, fertility, and also vulnerability due to their defenselessness. Ornamentation, traditionally intended to beautify and lend status, is here sketched with the same unfinished quality as the rabbits. This merging perhaps diminishes the power usually associated with wealth. While the drawing’s simple, almost childish quality may seem disarming, it invites reflection on the tensions between the need for safety, the illusion of security provided by status, and the realities of a tumultuous world. It’s a study of innocence in a world of conflict, made by an artist familiar with violence and displacement.