Windsor Bamboo-turned Chair c. 1937

Edward Loper made this watercolour drawing of a Windsor Bamboo-turned Chair at some point during his career. It’s a beautiful, subtle study in browns and creams. You can almost see him there with his watercolours, patiently capturing the details. I can imagine Loper carefully mixing his paints, trying to get that perfect shade of wood, not too light, not too dark. Look at the way he's rendered the rounded forms, the subtle shadows that give the chair its shape. The precision of the lines shows his dedication to documenting every detail of the chair's design. He’s not just painting a chair; he’s thinking about its function, its history, and its place in someone's home. And the little sketch in the top corner adds another layer, like a note to himself. It makes you wonder about the relationship between observation and imagination and the tradition of artists who find inspiration in the everyday.