Design for Pink, White and Blue Curtains with Blue Fringes, and Gold and Blue Pediments 1815 - 1825

This design for pink, white and blue curtains with blue fringes, and gold and blue pediments was rendered by an anonymous artist in pen and watercolor. Domestic design like this was influenced by high art in the 18th and 19th centuries. The classical style of the pediments here and the heavy drapery suggest formality and wealth. Designs like this one tell us a lot about social class. Wealthy families in Europe and the United States would consult design professionals to emulate the most current styles. Publications from England and France circulated among the upper classes, suggesting that taste in domestic design was an international phenomenon. Historians of design consult trade publications, interior design manuals, letters, diaries, and household inventories to understand how taste has changed over time and what these changes tell us about the people who commissioned these objects.