Onderstok van parapluie of parasol van gekleurd berkenhout met knoestige, rechte haak van gekleurd, warrig esdoorn(?) c. 1920 - 1940

This is a parasol handle, made from coloured birch and maple by Gustav Schnitzler and held in the Rijksmuseum collection. It makes me think about process and labour. Here is someone working directly with the raw material of nature, transforming it into something refined and elegant. I can imagine Schnitzler finding beauty in the unworked wood, patiently peeling it, shaping it and coloring it. There is a contrast here between the wild and the smooth, the natural and the designed, the unkempt and the polished. The unruly hook with its knotty texture, and the perfectly straight shaft. In painting, this would be like a dialogue between accident and control, chaos and order. Schnitzler must have enjoyed the challenge of bending nature to his will while honoring its inherent qualities. I bet he felt like he was engaged in a conversation, a dance, with the wood itself. And that’s what art is all about.