Brief aan Frans Buffa en Zonen Possibly 1868

This letter was written in 1858 by David Bles to Frans Buffa en Zonen. It’s made with paper, and ink applied with a nib pen. Now, we might not think of a letter as a designed object, but consider the labor involved. From the harvesting of rags to make paper pulp, right through to the gestures of Bles’s hand as he wrote, and the clerk who would have copied it, the letter reflects many different hands. The quality of paper signals a certain level of society and commerce, and it would have been costly. The handwriting too, shows how literacy and the skill of penmanship were considered valuable. Far from being a transparent means of communication, this letter is a material object. The labor is embedded in its very structure. By recognizing the amount of work involved, we appreciate how every object, however humble, carries the weight of its own making.