Design for Red Fringed and Tasseled Curtains with a Gold Pelmet 1800 - 1850

This watercolor drawing shows a design for opulent red and gold fringed curtains and was likely created in the nineteenth century. Here, an anonymous artist imagines a room transformed by elaborate draping. The profusion of fabric and ornament speaks to a culture of display. We might ask, what social class would commission such a design? And in what kind of building, or institution, might these curtains hang? Think of the grand homes of industrialists during the gilded age, but also hotels and theaters, spaces of leisure for the upper classes. This image operates as a kind of advertisement, one that makes claims about taste and social aspiration. Historians consider the design alongside sources such as trade publications and interior design manuals. These help us to better understand the social and cultural values invested in domestic spaces. By examining such images, we recognize that what seems like a simple drawing actually reflects complex social relations.