Glass 1750 - 1780

This glass vase, made by an anonymous artist, presents a fascinating window into the social history of glass production and consumption. In trying to locate this work within a specific time and place, we might consider the rise of industrial glassmaking and its impact on middle-class life. By the late 19th and early 20th century, innovations in glass production, particularly in pressed glass, made decorative objects like this vase widely accessible. Its geometric patterns, mass-produced and affordable, democratized luxury, challenging traditional aristocratic associations with fine glasswork. The vase offered a taste of elegance to a broader public, and reflected changing social values around domestic display and leisure. To fully understand this object, one would research glass manufacturing techniques, trade catalogs, and social histories of domestic life. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.