Police Lantern and Club 1938

Alexander Anderson made this drawing of a Police Lantern and Club with graphite and watercolor. There's a kind of patience to the rendering, it's not splashy or showy, but descriptive, methodical. You get the feeling Anderson was really looking, really seeing the thing he was drawing. The overall feel is muted, tending towards umber, and there's a lovely gradated effect on the rounded top, moving from light to shadow. I'm curious about the ruffled tiers at the very top. It looks almost like a flamenco dancer's skirt! It's a functional, but odd detail. What does it do? Is it merely decorative? This reminds me a bit of the drawings of everyday objects by the Swiss artist, Alois Carigiet, though Carigiet brings a bit more graphic punch to the image. Both, however, imbue the mundane with an uncanny, reverential, quality. With art, the familiar can become strange, and the ordinary, extraordinary.