Design for a ceiling 1850 - 1900

Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise made this design for a ceiling using watercolor and graphite on paper. The light washes of color create a delicate composition of rococo scrolls and floral embellishments. It’s a design meant for reproduction at a much larger scale, probably as plasterwork. Think of the skilled labor that would be involved in translating these painterly gestures into three dimensions. The design implies a whole chain of production: from the artist’s initial concept, to the model-makers who would realize it, to the installers who would put the ceiling in place. Looking at this drawing, you get a sense of the aspiration for luxurious interiors, and the many hands involved in making that possible. In that sense, even a preliminary sketch like this one gives you an entry point into thinking about labor, class, and the industrialization of taste. It reminds us that even the most seemingly rarefied art has its roots in the everyday world of materials, making, and social context.