Box c. 1936

Curator: This watercolor and drawing titled "Box" was created by Sylvia Dezon around 1936. The artwork features a delicate study of a small, ornamental box rendered in several perspectives. Editor: It's quite lovely—the colors are so muted, almost ghostly. There’s a poignant, ethereal quality about the composition and layout on the page, isn't there? It gives it an intentionally unresolved feeling. Curator: Indeed. It begs questions about the original function of the box itself. Was it mass produced? Custom made? By examining its form, decoration and method of replication here through watercolor we might start answering them. Editor: Seeing that particular era and considering this could be some kind of makeup container or jewelry box makes me reflect on gender roles during the late interwar period, specifically the culture of beauty and adornment for women. I would imagine such an item signified social status, but I can also consider how a woman's perceived physical appearance at the time may have had detrimental and restrictive affects, influencing societal expectations and limitations. Curator: Precisely. Consider also the materiality. Metal or perhaps enamel, depending on access. Was the watercolor exercise of creating multiples on a sheet meant to study mass production and manufacturing trends of the time? We can contemplate access, skill, the hand vs machine as it were. It would be interesting to understand more about where the materials for this object, the paper and watercolor, originated. Editor: Right, thinking about how a mundane item like this might represent power structures embedded in society reveals insights we often miss. The delicate lines also remind us that these seemingly minor material things, these boxes, can shape and define experiences beyond a singular owner and artistic study. Curator: Absolutely. By acknowledging the socioeconomic forces present in this piece, we enhance its reading within its proper cultural framework and can bring into relief many details easy to miss if we only looked at the images and colors on the page. Editor: What seemed like a delicate watercolor rendering of a lovely box opens a dialogue of beauty, function, consumption, identity and power in the interwar years. Fascinating, isn’t it?