Meat Dish 1811 - 1812

Editor: This is "Meat Dish," by Thomas Robins, currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a rather large silver platter. What can we glean from its materiality? Curator: This isn't just about aesthetics, is it? We're looking at the labour involved: the mining, the smelting, the crafting. Consider the social context, too. Who owned this platter, and what does that tell us about their access to resources and their position in society? Editor: So, it's more than just a pretty platter. It speaks to a whole system of production and consumption. Curator: Exactly! It challenges this idea of "high art" by highlighting the labour and resources embedded in its creation. Editor: I see now how examining the material unveils these layers of meaning.