Sideboard Table, from Chippendale Drawings, Vol. II 1753

Editor: This is a drawing of a Sideboard Table by Thomas Chippendale, from 1753. It's a coloured-pencil drawing. It feels quite formal and architectural, and there’s something very rigid about the design. How do you interpret this work in terms of its historical context? Curator: Well, let's consider the historical period. It's mid-18th century. Chippendale's designs significantly shaped the taste of the British elite. But it's vital to ask: whose stories are prioritized and whose are actively suppressed within the Neoclassical aesthetic he represents? These ornate objects certainly signal wealth. What statements were made through its display within a home? Editor: That’s a perspective I hadn't considered. It goes beyond mere function and gets into displays of power, doesn't it? How might gender play a role here? Curator: Think about who likely commissioned this piece and the roles that gender and class played in shaping access to these spaces and objects. It served a purpose. Whose labor went into its production, and how was that labor valued, or rather, devalued? This wasn't just a table; it was a cultural signifier with tangible social implications. Editor: So, by studying such objects, we’re also studying power dynamics in the society from which they come? It is indeed about material and labor conditions rather than beauty and style alone. Curator: Precisely! Approaching design through an intersectional lens invites us to reflect on these artworks and consider whose narratives are amplified and marginalized. By looking critically, we confront some uncomfortable truths about this object's journey through time. Editor: I’ll never look at a Chippendale table the same way again. It seems so much more charged now. Curator: Good. Let us then consider design beyond what meets the eye and reveal the social, political, and cultural contexts embedded within.