Credens met servies after 1724

This print, Credens met servies, was made by Georg Lichtensteger in the 18th century. Look closely, and you'll see it depicts an elaborate piece of furniture, a kind of display cabinet. Notice how the print captures the textures and materials of the original object. There's the gleam of mirrors, the smoothness of porcelain and silverware, all framed by the carved wood of the credenza itself. Lichtensteger would have been trained in the skilled traditions of printmaking, using techniques to mimic the qualities of other materials. Prints like these were not just decorative. They were advertisements, ways to circulate new ideas about design and consumption. They speak to the growing availability of luxury goods in the 1700s, and the desire to show them off. Consider the labor involved: from the extraction of silver, to the shaping of porcelain, to the cabinetmaker's artistry, all captured in this single image. It's a window into the material culture of the past, and the complex web of production and desire that shaped it.