Parasolknop of parapluknop van geverfd hout; op de knop is een patroon van driehoeken en stippen gebrand c. 1920

This umbrella handle, by Gustav Schnitzler, lives at the Rijksmuseum. It's made of painted wood, with a pattern of triangles and dots etched into the knob. The handle feels folksy, right? The wood grain shows through the dark paint, a kind of transparency that doesn't hide its origins. The triangles and dots burned into the wood feel deliberate but imperfect. The slightly wonky geometry reminds me that art is a process, not just a product. The artist is working with their hands. Think about the physicality of this handle. Someone held it, turned it, burned those marks in, and painted it. Now, my eye is caught by the reddish-brown triangles, each one slightly different, like tiny, imperfect tents pitched on this little wooden landscape. It makes you think about where you might use this umbrella. This piece makes me think of other artists, like Forrest Bess, who embraced the handmade and the imperfect. Art is an ongoing conversation. I love that the piece doesn't give you all the answers. It’s more about opening up questions.