Bandbox c. 1938

Charles Caseau made this bandbox, painted with a lovely palette, sometime between 1880 and 1995. It’s got this hand-done, slightly clumsy charm that I just love. You can feel the artist working with the material, the brush dancing around, not trying to be perfect. The blue is so dreamy, almost like a faded memory. And those little floral and foliate patterns are like a dance around the box. There's a painterly quality to the work, not too concerned with making things look "real," but more about the joy of making marks. Look at that tiger in the upper corner - it seems caught mid-pounce. The more you look, the more you can see how the patterns create their own little world. It reminds me a bit of Henri Rousseau, in that same spirit of playful invention and slightly awkward beauty. It's a reminder that art isn't always about perfection, but about feeling and imagination.