Cabinet Design 1800 - 1900

This delicate "Cabinet Design" was rendered anonymously on paper, using pen, ink, and watercolor. The drawing gives us insight into the world of 18th or 19th century furniture production. The design hints at both opulence and careful craftsmanship. It pictures a mahogany cabinet with curved glass display shelves, probably intended to showcase the owner’s prized possessions. Notice the precision of the lines, the subtle shading, and the way the watercolor is used to suggest the textures of wood, glass, and fabric. Though rendered on paper, the design speaks to a much more involved manufacturing process: the felling of trees, the milling of lumber, the blowing of glass. These procedures all relied upon the labor of specialized craftsmen. The drawing may have been produced by one of these makers, hoping to impress a wealthy patron. Designs like these were part of an increasingly globalized economy, where elite taste drove demand for luxury objects. It reminds us to look beyond the surface of things, toward the complex processes that bring them into being.