Book cover with overall geometric pattern 1800 - 1900

Editor: Here we have a book cover with overall geometric patterns, dating to sometime in the 1800s, currently housed at the Met. It seems to be a drawing or painting, maybe watercolor... it's intricate, like wallpaper. What do you see in this piece that I might be missing? Curator: Well, let's think about the book itself. As a physical object, what purpose did it serve, and who might have owned or produced a book with this sort of cover? Considering that it's handmade—perhaps a watercolor drawing or print—it signals a certain level of skilled labor and bespoke quality, placing it outside mass-produced markets. What do you think the geometric patterns suggest? Editor: I hadn't thought about the book's production... now it feels almost like craft work. The geometric pattern, the symmetry…maybe speaks to a desire for order or even luxury in its time? It is just “decoration”, but clearly a designed element of consumption? Curator: Precisely. Think about Pattern and Decoration, a movement where artists deliberately embraced decoration and craft, challenging traditional hierarchies that valued painting and sculpture above the so-called applied arts. So, how does analyzing this “cover” challenge distinctions in art or in artistic skill or intention? Editor: That’s a good point, especially when applied to books. Something mass produced with "merely decorative" status elevates when analyzed through its production value and the maker's decisions. Curator: Exactly. We see that art isn’t always about singular genius but the product of deliberate choices reflecting particular values within production systems. The very materiality of this watercolor shifts its cultural weight. Editor: Thinking about how this was made, rather than just what it represents, changes my understanding completely. Thanks for the insight. Curator: My pleasure. It's rewarding to see you engage with the process behind the piece.