Design for a Bookstand 1800 - 1850

This is a design for a bookstand made on a sheet, now located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by an anonymous artist. Consider for a moment, the intimacy of reading. Now consider how that intimacy is shaped by the objects that accompany it. This design offers us a glimpse into the private spaces of study and reflection, where the arrangement of objects speaks volumes about their owner. The bookstand itself, elevated and ornate, suggests a reverence for the written word, a reverence intertwined with class and privilege. It is meant for a home, a library or study of someone with means and education. But what stories are absent here? Whose hands are not represented in the careful construction and use of this object? This bookstand, in its silent elegance, invites us to consider the broader landscape of labor, class, and access that shape even our most solitary moments.