Handvat van hout voor een paraplu of parasol, met een knop van been; met draagriem c. 1910 - 1920

Curator: Let's consider this Umbrella or Parasol Handle by Gustav Schnitzler, dating from around 1910 to 1920. Editor: Elegant! Utilitarian, but those bone fittings lend such a tactile appeal. Almost like a wand from a fairy tale. Curator: The choice of wood and ivory signals a certain level of access. Luxury was literally at your fingertips with an item like this. What intrigues me is the contrast—the mass production of umbrellas as weather protection meeting the individual expression of wealth and style in its handle. Editor: Absolutely! Imagine commissioning such a personalized object, thinking about the weather, the occasion... Do you think people pondered the type of wood they would use? The polish on the bone? Maybe, now I’m seeing little stories etched in that handle's surface. Curator: Wood like this, even carefully sourced and worked, is far more accessible as a material than the ivory, isn't it? One whispers of established networks and global trade; the other reflects specific colonial exploitations of natural resources at the time, right? Editor: Gosh, I hadn’t thought of it that way... there’s also this, perhaps naive, thought: it brings to mind the joy of protecting oneself against the elements, feeling grand, safe from nature! Curator: And yet, even joy like that is conditioned by the modes of production, isn't it? How deeply are things bound in with a socio-historical perspective, then? Editor: That's... heavy! Though it certainly adds weight to this little handle. A bittersweet tinge. It is rather fascinating to trace these hidden meanings. Curator: It prompts one to see everyday items as artifacts carrying all these loaded ideas with it; even decorative ones such as this one are intertwined within global historical contexts. Editor: So true, our little handle there has many, many stories it seems.