Draagkoets met putto

Johann Georg Hertel created this print of a sedan chair, or ‘Draagkoets met putto’ in the eighteenth century. Consider this image as a design template for the ultra-rich. In this period, many Western nations relied on a strict class system in which only a select few enjoyed extreme wealth. These aristocratic elites were eager to broadcast their status through conspicuous consumption, buying up luxury items like this elaborate chair. Note the finely wrought details and classical imagery, all signifiers of wealth and taste. Consider the social conditions that made this image possible. Did Hertel intend to subtly critique or celebrate these hierarchies? As a historian, I would look to sources like historical inventories and design publications to understand how images like this circulated and shaped consumer culture. After all, art always exists within social and institutional contexts that shape its meaning.