Glass Cooler c. 1740 - 1750

Editor: Here we have the "Glass Cooler" made around 1740-1750 by the Olerys Pottery Manufactory, a ceramic piece residing here at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's decorative, almost celebratory with the crest, but also seems a very practical piece of stoneware. What story can you tell from examining how it was crafted and used? Curator: This seemingly simple cooler provides insight into 18th-century class structure. Earthenware, although common, becomes elevated through detailed, hand-painted decoration mimicking porcelain, implying status. Consider the labour involved in sourcing materials, shaping, firing, and then meticulously painting these floral motifs and the heraldic crest. Who do you imagine commissioned such a piece? Editor: I’d guess someone in the upper class, since it looks so ornate. It makes you think about the disparity between the labor that went into making it, and how much use a laborer may get out of it. Curator: Precisely. Its purpose, chilling glasses, suggests a lifestyle of leisure and consumption, a need created by emerging social rituals. The cooler becomes not just a functional object, but a display of wealth through material and skilled labor. Editor: So it is about using the production of the artwork to analyze social stratification in that time period. Is the cooler itself critiquing this? Curator: The object itself isn't inherently critical, but our analysis can be. The material choices, production processes, and intended use highlight disparities in access and power during that period. Editor: I never considered decorative art having such economic implications, but it does make a lot of sense in the context of labor. Curator: Exactly. By looking at how materials are manipulated, who is doing the work, and what the intended outcome is, we gain insight into the socio-economic structures of its time. Editor: So the process of production contains as much, if not more, relevant information as the finished object itself. I appreciate this expanded definition of the work now!