Embroidered Box 1662

Editor: So, this is an Embroidered Box, made in 1662 by an anonymous artist. It’s at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It looks to be made with mixed media including wood, textiles and watercolor, and includes carvings and embroidery. It has such a fantastical, almost dreamlike quality with all the different scenes depicted on it! How would you interpret this box? Curator: From a materialist perspective, this box is fascinating. It bridges the gap between "high" art and craft. Look at the labour involved in its creation. Each stitch, each carefully chosen material – wood, textile, watercolor – speaks to the artisan's dedication and skill. How do you think the use of these particular materials speaks to the intended purpose, and maybe the original owner of the piece? Editor: Hmm, well the embroidery does look incredibly delicate. So perhaps it belonged to someone of a higher class? I imagine the labour was quite intensive... Curator: Exactly! Consider also the social context. This wasn’t just decoration, was it? The act of creation and consumption were entwined. We could also see how the narrative scenes worked in relation to that; these were meant to impress upon others the wealth and status of those in its immediate milieu. Editor: I see, so the very *act* of making the piece, with these particular materials and this level of detailed work, serves as a declaration. It is also telling a story to outsiders. Curator: Precisely. Think about the power dynamics at play in the material world and in society during that time. A box such as this displays a system that depended on specific raw materials and also time dedicated to the artistic process. This challenges our ideas around simple ‘decoration’, no? Editor: Absolutely, viewing it this way reveals much more depth. The materiality opens up the narrative to include the whole network that created this object. I'll never look at embroidery the same way! Curator: And hopefully that expands to any form of craft as a complex system that has much more beneath the surface than expected.