Lolling chair 1780 - 1800

Curator: Standing before us is a rather elegant "Lolling Chair" crafted sometime between 1780 and 1800. Its anonymous creator used wood and textile to create, well, something very intriguing. Editor: It feels like the kind of chair where secrets were whispered, and big decisions were silently mulled over. Is it the yellow textile, or the rigid wooden structure? It’s both comforting and intimidating. Curator: Definitely a chair of its time. What does its height evoke for you? Think about the era, about the kind of sitter this chair was made for. Editor: The chair's high back suggests a certain power dynamic, a visual hierarchy. Was it designed for someone presiding over others, or perhaps to create an aura of authority? Or perhaps just so the ladies could arrange their bouffants comfortably without crushing them? Curator: The floral pattern also speaks to me. You see, textiles like these became quite trendy during that time, but perhaps only affordable to particular classes. Editor: It makes me consider the labor involved in creating such a chair. The skilled artisans, probably marginalized and hidden, whose hands shaped it but whose stories are missing. Curator: Absolutely. Also, the name is so amusing: Lolling Chair! A seemingly posh term for leisure. Editor: Exactly! Lolling isn’t just lounging, it’s deliberate idleness. How luxurious! How fraught, when that idleness is built upon social imbalance. It reminds us that beauty and comfort can obscure the labor, the histories, and the cost behind them. Curator: And as we reflect on this chair, let us also remember the silences it holds. What might it have witnessed, the hushed conversations, the moments of both triumph and despair? Editor: A silent witness indeed. And a call for us to reimagine our relationship with furniture –not just as objects of use or art but as cultural artifacts brimming with untold narratives.