Glass 1750 - 1780

This glass vase was made by an anonymous artist. The clean lines of the vessel lend it an air of formality. Such vases were often displayed in the homes of the middle class, who wanted to publicly display their refinement. Glass production was often a product of industrial manufacture. These became popular items in department stores. The anonymity of the artist speaks to the way in which industrialization changed our relationship to artistic production. No longer an individual laboring over a piece for months, the division of labor and economies of scale meant art became much more accessible. As a historian, I would be interested to examine the economic context in which this object was produced. What was the division of labor? What class of people consumed this? Only by answering these questions can we truly understand the history of this artwork.