Ontwerp voor een glazenkoeler c. 1790 - 1795

This is Giuseppe Valadier’s design for a glass cooler. Rendered in graphite, you can see the artist using linear perspective and shading to convey the object’s three-dimensionality. What's fascinating here is the intended material: glass. This changes everything. Glassmaking was a highly skilled, often secretive tradition. The process is labor-intensive, requiring intense heat and precise manipulation. The design incorporates decorative elements like wave patterns and lion-head handles. These details would have added significant complexity to the glassblowing process. The cooler's shape, with its wide bowl and pedestal base, speaks to classical influences. But making it in glass, rather than the more traditional metal or ceramic, elevates it. It’s a celebration of material and making. It challenges our conventional ideas about luxury, labor, and artistic value. It reminds us that every object, no matter how decorative, is the result of skilled labor and material transformation.