Plateelbakker 1735 - 1739

Editor: Here we have Pieter Yver’s "Plateelbakker," created sometime between 1735 and 1739. It's a detailed engraving of a pottery maker at work. It strikes me as incredibly focused on the act of making – the tools, the wheel, even the spare pots. What details stand out to you in terms of production? Curator: I’m immediately drawn to the depiction of labor. Consider the scene: a potter meticulously shaping clay. Yver doesn’t romanticize this process. He presents it as work. Look at the repetition of forms - the wheel, the bowls - these are elements of mass production in their early stages. Where do you see the interplay of handcrafting and the dawn of industrial methods in the image? Editor: I notice the various vessels. Some appear finished and placed on the shelf in the background. Others are in progress. Also, he is sitting very close to a window. All very practical to the work at hand. Curator: Exactly. It’s also about the social context of craft. How were such items consumed? Were they luxury goods, or increasingly available to a wider public? Consider, too, the economic conditions. Where does this workshop fit into the larger system of production and distribution in 18th century Holland? Editor: It’s interesting to think about this single person as part of a much larger economy and culture of material goods. This artwork provides insight into labor that I normally don't connect with art! Curator: Precisely! And it invites us to consider the role of art in representing, and even shaping, our understanding of work and value.