Match Safe c. 1936

This is Thomas Holloway’s rendering of a Match Safe. It is a simple object, but not so simply described. I like how the artist seems to have taken on the role of an engineer or even an architect. The drawing flattens the object, but the rendering of light and shade gives the container volume and form. It’s so neat. But I wonder if he knew that his drawing was also an artwork that had its own presence, independent of the thing it represented? The surface of the match safe has been neatly engraved. The drawing captures the way light reflects off the gold surface. But somehow it’s the two little sketches of the container in the upper right corner that intrigue me the most. These floating shapes are so understated, so quiet, and yet so crucial to the artist’s vision.