Dressoir van walnotenhout door Alexandre Georges Fourdinois tentoongesteld op de Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations van 1851 in Londen 1851

This image shows a walnut dressoir by Alexandre Georges Fourdinois, exhibited in London at the Great Exhibition of 1851. This photograph was taken by C.M. Ferrier & F. von Martens. The dressoir is an imposing example of nineteenth-century craftsmanship, entirely constructed from intricately carved walnut wood. The use of walnut is significant, as it was a prized material, associated with luxury and fine furniture making. The carving process itself would have been labor-intensive, requiring skilled artisans to bring out the wood's natural grain and luster. The Great Exhibition was a celebration of industrial progress and design innovation. This dressoir would have stood as an example of the apex of French artistry. Yet beneath its ornate surface, the dressoir also speaks to social issues of labor and class. The intensive production process contrasts starkly with the lives of those who toiled to create it, a divide that exhibitions like this often obscured.