Bedstee 1772 - 1779

Curator: This is "Bedstee," an etching and engraving made sometime between 1772 and 1779. Editor: It has this very formal, staged quality. Not exactly inviting, but meticulously arranged, like a stage set ready for a very powdered performance. The drawing itself seems obsessed with surfaces and decor. Curator: Absolutely. This image provides valuable insight into 18th-century European concepts of privacy, domesticity, and how elite individuals curated their personal spaces. Editor: You can almost feel the weight of all that fabric – the curtains, the bedspread… it screams luxury, of course, but also intense labor. How long did it take to produce all of those textiles? Curator: Precisely! This piece reflects the emergence of the domestic sphere as a space of display and control, specifically regarding women’s roles in family and reproduction, which makes it an interesting conversation partner with contemporary intersectional thought and feminist theory. Editor: But what kind of material is that patterned fabric on the bed covering? You just know that had a direct effect on the lived lives of so many craftspeople who worked hard so it could end up in the bedroom of somebody rich. What were they producing in that era, velvet? Damask? Chintz? The details of the materials matter as much as who slept there. Curator: And don't forget the role of enslaved labor in producing raw materials like cotton! So, to read this seemingly benign interior scene through a critical lens, is to also understand the larger systems of power that upheld it. Editor: Right, understanding those connections is the heart of how art connects to social experience and history. Next time I look at an elegant design, I’m thinking about the hands that actually made it and the societal system supporting their craft and/or enslavement. Curator: Exactly, and "Bedstee," despite its formal rigidity, allows us to open those doors of thought to further examine those very real ties that continue to have power today.