Kasten after 1878

This print from Le Magasin de Meubles presents us with two tables, archetypes of domestic life. Notice the three-tiered structure, a motif as old as the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. These tiers speak to a structured existence, a hierarchy of objects and purposes. It's a kind of vertical organization, mirroring our own mental landscapes of order. Think of the Renaissance depictions of the ladder of virtues. The legs, though simple, recall the fluted columns of classical architecture, miniature echoes of temples. It’s a psychological play; the human desire to elevate the mundane, to give everyday objects a semblance of grandeur, tapping into a collective memory of stability and order. The recurrence of these archetypes over millennia suggests they aren't mere aesthetic choices, but conduits through which we unconsciously connect with past civilizations. They echo through time, reminding us of the enduring human quest for structure and meaning.