Cabinet, with Ivory Keyholes c. 1937

William Kieckhofel made this drawing of a cabinet, complete with ivory keyholes, at some point in his long life, probably using pencil and watercolor. I like to imagine William, squinting just so, trying to get that wood grain down, stroke by careful stroke. Look at the open door and the shadows inside, implying a whole other world within the cabinet. The original was over five feet high, so it would have been quite an undertaking to build. The drawing captures the feeling of handmade care, of a single person’s vision meticulously brought to life. You can almost smell the sawdust. I can imagine that the small drawers might have contained precious keepsakes like love letters, or maybe even something mundane like spices. Maybe William was inspired by the Shaker aesthetic, or maybe he was just trying to make something functional and beautiful. It’s hard to know! But I love that he took the time to draw it for us.