Ontwerpen voor een juwelenkist Possibly 1913

Here is a design for a jewelry box made with pencil and crayon by Mathieu Lauweriks. The drawing imagines a box, viewed from the side and above, with curved lines spiraling into a central point on the lid. I wonder what Lauweriks was thinking when he conceived this design. As an architect, did he think of the box as a miniature building? The spiraling lines give the box a sense of movement, like a nautilus shell, organic and mathematical at the same time. There is such an economy to the rendering, just a few lines and some soft shading, but it clearly conveys the form and the texture of the object. It reminds me of the kind of thoughtful and practical craftsmanship you see in the work of someone like Anni Albers, where design meets utility, and simple materials are transformed into something beautiful and functional. It is a gentle reminder that we are all part of this ongoing conversation.