Design for a coffered ceiling with painted panels 1840 - 1897

Curator: Oh, that’s lovely. The colors give me such a peaceful feeling, almost like looking up at a calm summer sky. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is a design for a coffered ceiling with painted panels, created by Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise between 1840 and 1897. It’s currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A watercolor, no less! Curator: You know, looking at this, I immediately think of the immense labor involved in creating such a ceiling. Each coffer meticulously designed and painted. The access, the artisans employed. How the labor involved might reflect the social stratification of the period. The materials would be a display of wealth! Editor: Precisely. Coffered ceilings, historically, speak of power and prestige. They were commissioned by the wealthy for grand spaces, often reflecting specific cultural aspirations or political affiliations. How would the commissioners receive it? I also wonder, where was this designed to be? Where was this panel intended to live? Curator: And what about the materiality? Watercolour lends a certain softness, a dreamlike quality, yet this is intended for architectural application. How does that interplay of ephemeral material and solid construction inform our understanding? How are art and craft merging here? Editor: An excellent point. It does seem to challenge rigid classifications. Looking closely, I also note the recurrence of certain motifs—floral patterns, stylized swirls—their repetition undoubtedly dictated by both aesthetic principles and available resources within workshops of that era. It certainly must come to symbolize opulence. Curator: It truly does make one ponder the nature of art itself—what designates “art” versus “craft”? How does the mode of production and material influence our perceptions of value and worth? What did the people who worked in the studios crafting this feel while at work? The repetitive action over a long day while creating the parts necessary for this ceiling. I would love to see a breakdown of where Lachaise sourced his materials. Editor: Certainly. Lachaise was interested in more than making aesthetically appealing forms: He was mediating social ideas within defined historical moment! I’ll consider the questions you've posed while researching the political atmosphere of the time that could be symbolized within this coffered design. Curator: Splendid. And I’ll delve further into the practicalities—pigment sourcing, skill distribution, and labour. A fitting tribute to its complexity.