With its visible joints and modest ornamentation, this severe, almost medieval looking sideboard was made in accordance with the design theory of Charles Locke Eastlake, a British architect and critic who advocated “honesty” in the construction of furniture. Along with William Morris—an English artist and designer who exhibited works at the Centennial Exhibition—Eastlake called for a return to hand craftsmanship to counter the dominance of machine production in the 1800s.