Chest c. 1936

This chest was made by Samuel Fineman, who was born in 1855, from wood and metal. The eye is drawn to the wood's striking grain. It is an adaptable material; cut, planed, sanded, and polished, yet always revealing its organic nature. The metal adds a crucial layer of durability and also emphasizes a sense of robust utility. The fasteners on the corners suggest that the chest was built for serious use and perhaps even for travel. The construction process would have involved skilled labor: someone to harvest the wood, someone to mill it, someone to work the metal, and, finally, a craftsman to assemble all of these elements into a unified whole. This reminds us that objects embody social relations, reflecting the labor and resources that come together in their making. In considering this chest, we must appreciate the processes and materials that give it form and meaning, as well as the social context in which it was created. Only then can we begin to understand the object's true value.