Office High Stool c. 1940

Ursula Lauderdale made "Office High Stool" as a watercolour on paper. You know, there's something about simple, everyday objects rendered in watercolor that really gets me going. Just imagine Lauderdale, her brow furrowed in concentration, carefully mixing her pigments to capture the subtle tones of the wood and the worn fabric. She must have been thinking about the lives that sat on this object: the worker, the office; how often it was used. The texture in the seat looks thin and worn. You can almost feel the roughness of the weave. I imagine it as a conversation, a meditation on utility, class, and the beauty we often overlook. You know, it makes me think about Fairfield Porter, who elevated the mundane through his painterly touch. Maybe Lauderdale saw something similar in this stool – a quiet dignity, a humble presence that deserved to be seen.