Box 1790 - 1860

Editor: This object, an anonymous wooden “Box” dated between 1790 and 1860, resides here at the Art Institute of Chicago. It strikes me as having a kind of stoic simplicity. All those geometric carvings… I wonder, what stories do you think this box holds? Curator: Ah, a humble container holding untold possibilities! This piece whispers tales of craftsmanship. Run your mental fingers over the grain of the wood, feel the care put into each precise carving. Notice the repeated motifs - geometric stars alongside less defined forms - a kind of visual language, don't you think? I imagine someone meticulously working on this, perhaps over long winter evenings, each cut a meditation, a connection to the world and their place within it. What function might it have served, I wonder? Treasure, secret love letters, tools…or something else. Editor: That’s a lovely image - long winter evenings by the fire… Do you think these shapes had specific meanings back then, or were they more just…decorative? Curator: Probably both. Folk art often intertwines functionality with symbolism. Maybe the star was simply pretty, a nod to the cosmos, a spark of hope in a sometimes bleak world, or could it have protected what it contained? Did it follow in established pattern, was the crafter showing their skill or were they introducing their vision? Decorative art asks these types of questions. Editor: I never thought of it that way, a spark of hope carved into wood. Curator: Art can offer those types of emotional moments, glimpses into human experience separated by vast stretches of time. Think about it - the artist put something of themselves, and their experience in creating that and we are on the receiving end of those memories and experiences now. Editor: Absolutely, that makes me appreciate the box so much more! Thanks. Curator: And you’ve offered new insight by reminding me of it's stoicism, an artifact with an unspoken, internal strength.