Pitcher (Amberina) c. 1941

Curator: Here we have Joseph Mitry's "Pitcher (Amberina)", created around 1941. Mitry captured this object using watercolor and drawing techniques. Editor: It's lovely, a bit nostalgic. The rendering is soft, but the form feels quite solid. It gives off a warm, inviting feeling. Is it supposed to be amber? Curator: "Amberina" refers to a type of glass characterized by its color gradient—typically shading from red or amber to yellow or orange. The object's placement during that specific era hints at larger societal values. Items such as these became representative of refined homelife and aspirations of postwar contentment and a particular kind of domestic role. The gradient itself, for example, mirrors shifting social expectations that women navigate in both domestic settings as well as workforce roles. Editor: Oh, fascinating! Thinking symbolically, the pitcher also alludes to plenty—abundance. The form is quite rounded and the gradient suggests, like you said, transition or the blending of different elements, something of value to domestic life, that's interesting. Tell me more about the patterning? Curator: Mitry chose to detail each of these elements carefully with watercolor, which suggests that it carries specific connotations. Its surface has a hobnail pattern: Rows of raised, rounded shapes suggesting richness. The glass material can reflect how value gets projected onto materials but ultimately deconstructed. Editor: It’s interesting to consider it in light of how consumerism was shifting after the war, an accessible representation of luxury perhaps? Thank you for expanding the way I'm viewing the image! Curator: And thank you for expanding on its material memory. This piece truly makes you reflect on glass beyond its utility; it becomes a vessel of meaning.