Design for a Throne (recto); Recumbent Figure (verso) 1805 - 1840

This drawing, *Design for a Throne*, was created by William Pitts in the early 19th century using pen and brown ink on paper. Pitts’ choice of medium might seem simple, but it's far from neutral. The drawing’s directness shows Pitt’s vision for an object that would have been anything but: a throne, laden with ornament and symbolically charged. The starkness of the medium reveals the social function of the throne, which is to communicate the status of the person who sits upon it. Consider the weight and texture of the materials involved in the production of the actual throne. The velvet, the gold leaf, the precious stones, and of course, the labor of those who would have fashioned these materials into a finished object. The drawing represents all of this in absentia. Understanding the social and material context of this work challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft, and emphasizes the importance of understanding an artwork’s full meaning.