Cup and saucer 1933

This cup and saucer were designed by Frank Graham Holmes, an American ceramic artist. The image transfer-printed onto the china depicts Monticello, the plantation home of Thomas Jefferson. Given Monticello's status as a National Historic Landmark, we might easily overlook the politics of this imagery. Jefferson was, of course, a slave owner. His wealth and status depended on the exploitation of enslaved people. Here, though, he's memorialized as an architectural innovator and enlightened thinker. This cup and saucer offer us a glimpse into the ways historical narratives can be selectively curated. It reflects a conservative impulse within American culture to sanitize and romanticize a problematic past. As historians, it's our job to dig deeper, to ask difficult questions, and to consult a range of sources—from census records to personal letters—in order to understand art and culture in all its complexity.