Doos van karton waarop gedrukt 'A. Schröder & Co./ Leidschestraat 32-6' en geschreven 'Bruidsjapon Riekie 21 juni 1921' before 1927

This is a cardboard box, made by A. Schröder & Co., probably in the 1920s. It’s got the company’s name printed on it and the words 'Bruidsjapon Riekie 21 juni 1921' written by hand. It’s got me thinking about what artists choose to preserve and what they decide to throw away. What was going through A. Shröder's mind when they decided to keep this box? What was so special about this particular piece of cardboard? It’s that inscription, for sure, that turns this from packaging into a kind of time capsule. I can imagine the artist carefully preserving this object, seeing the beauty in something that others might overlook. I love how the humble materials of the box—the cardboard, the handwritten script—speak to a kind of everyday beauty that’s often missed. And how one person's mundane becomes another person's treasure.