Armchair (part of a set) c. 1885

Curator: My goodness, it’s so sturdy, isn’t it? There’s something almost stoic about its presence. Editor: Absolutely. This is an armchair, crafted around 1885. The Art Institute of Chicago has it as part of a larger set designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, during the peak of the Arts and Crafts movement. Curator: Ah, that explains it! It has that handmade quality, but there’s a restrained elegance that I don't always associate with Arts and Crafts. I am not sensing that wild, unbridled ornamentation. More that sense of usefulness, don't you think? Editor: Indeed. What’s fascinating here is the interplay between the materials: the wooden frame against the tan leather of the seat and back. The studs also have their saying, an almost minimalist composition. This highlights a broader question within the Arts and Crafts movement of what accessibility to design truly meant within Victorian England and the Gilded Age. Curator: The nails feel almost decorative, deliberately placed like tiny constellations or stitches binding the materials together, as opposed to mere function. The light wood softens the darker studs too. I'm interested in the story each material carries... what stories do you see embedded in the grain and the leather? Editor: Stories of labor, craft, and the debates of “good” versus “bad” design. The chair really speaks to a push for simplicity amidst the rise of industrial manufacturing, embodying that era’s anxieties around class, production, and consumption. This design insists on honesty of materials, an ethical decision as much as aesthetic one. Curator: Right. It seems to quietly challenge the Victorian taste for ornamentation, a whispered rebellion through form. It’s both radical and completely liveable, then and perhaps, again, today. It gives me lots to think about. Editor: Definitely! Hopefully our listeners find similar food for thought in this subtle but deeply resonant piece of design.