Cordial 1850 - 1855

Curator: Ah, yes, "Cordial", a beautiful example of decorative art crafted by the Brooklyn Flint Glass Company sometime between 1850 and 1855. Editor: It has a remarkable sense of fragility, almost like a delicate jewel. The vibrant cobalt blue accents against the clear glass create such a striking visual contrast, but for whom or what function would such a tiny goblet serve? Curator: Let's think about the context of its creation. The mid-19th century was a time of increasing industrialization but also burgeoning middle-class consumer culture. Pieces like this signal aspiration, accessibility, and leisure. Glassware, then, operated as more than just functional objects, right? Editor: I agree that these artifacts demonstrate middle class aesthetics, as they were becoming participants in consumer culture through objects that signaled belonging, respectability and a certain class consciousness. But what about access, production and labor? Curator: Exactly. Flint glass allowed for intricate designs at scale; that’s not simply a visual marker but also indicative of the labor practices employed. There's a narrative around craftsmanship—a sense of individual artistry—juxtaposed with emerging mass production, creating social layers, if you will. Editor: It prompts interesting questions about luxury, certainly. Is it really luxury when so many individuals are employed for its mass production and consumption? How do social inequalities present and reproduce themselves within aesthetic frameworks? Curator: Well, consider the ‘cordial’ itself—it implies moments of intimacy, celebratory kinship, a sharing of pleasantries and spirits. It's a social object that implies connections, class associations, leisure, and potentially social hierarchies. What seems delicate could be a marker of a highly structured social world. Editor: That's a sobering reminder of the complex dance between beauty and societal structures. "Cordial", then, speaks volumes about the intricate patterns etched into more than just the glass itself, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed. Its small stature holds vast social narratives.