Designs for Two Chairs 1841 - 1884

Curator: Today we are looking at "Designs for Two Chairs", a watercolor drawing and print made by Charles Hindley and Sons between 1841 and 1884. It gives us insight into furniture design of the time. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: The pastels give off a vibe that is strangely calming. Those delicate washes really capture the tactile textures, that tufted upholstery, in a deceptively simple way. They make me want to sink into one! Curator: Absolutely. Think about the materials involved: the plush velvet, the meticulously carved wood. Hindley and Sons, with their address listed at 134 Oxford Street, London, would have relied on a network of skilled craftspeople and suppliers to bring these designs to life. This piece showcases not just the design, but a whole production system. Editor: I’m imagining these chairs in a Victorian parlor. What I’d really love is to feel the give of those springs under all that buttoned velvet. I love the contrast. On one hand there's utility—somewhere to park yourself and have tea. But also they have this indulgent ornamentation. Curator: Victorian society certainly valued displays of comfort and prosperity. The industrial revolution was making such furnishings more accessible, thus driving desire and fueling a consumer culture. Consider this: each button had to be hand-sewn; each leg carved. That represents hours of labor, now presented as genteel relaxation. Editor: These drawings must have been marketing. The layout mimics pages from a catalog. It all boils down to "Do you want the pretty pink one or the refined lavender seat?" Someone had to dedicate the care required in watercolor, even for a product that seems pretty run of the mill in our age. Curator: Yes, you're right. They show an artistry applied to mass-produced consumer objects. Even in design, there's labor happening beneath the surface, driving aesthetic choices to persuade prospective customers to purchase such products. Editor: All that consideration put into something purely functional. When I’m tired later, I’ll think fondly of one of these fancy chairs. Thanks to them, my thoughts are focused around sitting. It's that thought I didn't expect today.