Kelkglas met Schulze en Müller en twee kemphanen 1856

Curator: What immediately grabs me is the luminous, almost ethereal quality. It feels like holding a memory. Editor: Indeed! We're looking at a 'Kelkglas met Schulze en Müller en twee kemphanen,' or a goblet featuring Schulze and Müller with two fighting cocks. Crafted around 1856, this glass embodies the spirit of Romanticism, and you can currently find it at the Rijksmuseum. Curator: Fighting cocks... right. It does give a sense of tension, but the detailed figuration on the glass seems to soften that edge, it's such fine work. How do we reconcile the supposed genre-painting with these other possible layers? Editor: Precisely! Genre paintings of this era often veiled commentary beneath seemingly simple scenes. Consider the context: 1856. There are so many undercurrents regarding the burgeoning conflicts in Europe! Curator: Do you think it's a stretch to consider the cocks as stand-ins for political rivals, maybe reflecting pre-unification tensions? I can see how this everyday item almost morphs into a silent commentary. Editor: Not a stretch at all! And look closely, the artist has framed them amidst this flourish of carved vegetal imagery – it's nature and culture colliding. It brings to mind contemporary discussions about identity and conflict—perhaps the names reference historical figures or a specific, localized rivalry. Curator: Names inscribed are potent things. Perhaps Schulze and Müller had an infamous face-off somewhere at that time, immortalized for the ages in the most unlikely place! Editor: Absolutely. As we hold on to the ideas about what is a chalice, a cup to consume from and what it symbolises. One is invited to contemplate its symbolism in connection to rituals and gatherings—think about this chalice making appearances at pivotal or even banal everyday settings; history, so to speak, always making an appearance. Curator: A humble, glass chalice etched with an ordinary, immortal feud then...It’s unexpectedly revealing; thank you for pointing this out. Editor: My pleasure! I’ll never look at another ornate goblet the same way.