Punch Bowl 1870 - 1900

This punch bowl was made by Hobbs, Brockunier and Company sometime between 1863 and 1891. Look at the craftsmanship: the play of light on its surface, the dark glass, and the regular pattern impressed upon it. The overall impact is one of restrained opulence. The bowl's design is an essay in contrasts. The regularity of the repeating pattern is offset by the freeform shape of the bowl itself. It sits between the industrial and the handmade. The dark color is a clue. During this period, dark glass was often made to imitate more expensive materials like onyx or obsidian. There's a fascinating tension here: this object is both itself and an imitation of something else. It destabilizes our assumptions about value and authenticity. It invites us to consider how meaning is constructed through material and form.