Side Chair c. 1848

Curator: What strikes you first about this side chair? To me, it seems a bold assertion of authority and control. Editor: Definitely regal! My gut reaction is something almost Shakespearean, all wood and darkened leather, like a prop waiting for a performance of King Lear. It feels ancient and important, even though it's just... a chair. Curator: It's certainly meant to project power. Dating from around 1848, this chair exemplifies the work of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, a central figure in the Gothic Revival movement. He embraced medieval design principles, seeing them as morally and aesthetically superior to classical styles. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this striking example of his craftsmanship. Editor: Gothic Revival, huh? That makes sense, all those pointed arches echoing in the leg supports. I like how solid and imposing the design is. But let's be real, would it be comfortable? I'm not seeing any give there! Curator: Comfort wasn't necessarily the primary concern. Pugin was invested in a symbolic and ideological project. The Middle Ages, for him, represented a society founded on strong religious faith and social order. He sought to embody these virtues through the very structure and ornamentation of objects. Editor: So it’s less about a comfy place to park your bum and more about… architectural moralizing? Still, those carved details! The tiny lion heads at the top…it's amazing what they could do by hand, a lost kind of craftsmanship. I wonder about the original owner of this chair and whether their posterior appreciated Pugin’s noble intentions. Curator: Given his clientele, and Pugin's beliefs, it would likely have been a male figure. He and others like him would not have accepted or supported anyone or anything less. More seriously though, understanding design is intrinsically tied to the people for whom these pieces were made. Gender, race, and the elite structures of the period, are very relevant to understanding artworks of this kind. The past has so much to say about our current culture! Editor: A good reminder! Makes me think about how objects carry so much unspoken history. Alright, now I see that a chair can be a loaded statement about more than just sitting. Thanks, that gave me a whole new angle to consider the history, and even meaning, behind seemingly ordinary things. Curator: Glad to shift your perspective! Indeed, material objects can teach us valuable lessons.