Gedecoreerde buffetkast van eikenhout uit Luik, België before 1887

This is an image of a decorated oak buffet from Liège, Belgium. Though the artist is unknown, the piece comes from the late 17th or early 18th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the finest furniture was seen as a display of wealth and status. This beautifully carved piece would have been commissioned by a wealthy family, probably to be displayed in the main reception room of a grand house. Liège was a city-state with a proud history of craftsmanship, and the furniture makers of the region would have competed for commissions from rich families. By the eighteenth century however, the region had come under foreign rule, and its economy was declining. This may have meant that patrons were less willing to pay for elaborate, high-quality pieces. Historians use inventories of aristocratic houses and business records of furniture makers to trace the shifting social dynamics of art production. Art objects are never simply beautiful or functional things, they are clues to the way people lived in the past.