Apothekersetiket voor levertraanemulsie 1884 - 1952

Curator: What a strange little ghost. That's the impression I get, anyway. A kind of hesitant drawing on a scrap of... is that tracing paper? Editor: Indeed! We're looking at an anonymous apothecary label sketch, rendered in ink on paper. The official title is "Apothekersetiket voor levertraanemulsie" which translates to "Apothecary Label for Cod Liver Oil Emulsion". Its creation is estimated between 1884 and 1952. Curator: Ah, cod liver oil. Makes that ghostly quality a bit clearer. Gives me a shudder, frankly, like swallowing a sad dream. But tell me, a sketch for a label? What does that say about its role? Editor: The public life of everyday commercial art like this provides us with interesting insights, I think. This isn’t necessarily ‘high art’, but rather functional design. We should remember how integral visual culture was, and remains, to consumerism. This wasn't meant to be exhibited; it was meant to sell a product, to create desire, or perhaps, alleviate worry about illness. Curator: So, what were they hoping to communicate, health, vitality, trustworthiness? Looking closer, I see a sort of winged figure, very lightly sketched. Editor: Probably a combination. Winged figures can imply health in some visual grammars. What gets me is the ephemeral quality. The paper is so fragile, the lines so delicate. The medium whispers 'impermanence' loudly. Did they consider it so disposable or perhaps they saw potential in this draft? Curator: Perhaps both? An artist playing, a business considering. But seeing something so temporary preserved like this makes one think about value, doesn’t it? Editor: It does indeed! And I love that a functional commercial image could one day make us linger in our contemporary now and rethink those ideas about health and our human needs. Thank you for offering this strange little ghost into the conversation.