Ceremonial drinking vessel c. 13th century

Curator: Here we have a rather humble but captivating object: an Olmec ceremonial drinking vessel, likely crafted around the 13th century, currently residing here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: Well, first glance? It looks remarkably…fragile. A thing that's been through something. The material looks earthy but precious, almost like bone. I imagine cupping my hands to drink from it in a ritual long since forgotten. Curator: It's fashioned from earthenware, you see, which would have been sourced directly from the earth, shaped and then fired to harden it. This simple form then carries immense social and spiritual weight. Editor: Earthenware... so, essentially refined mud. How fascinating to elevate something so base, so utterly common, into something sacred. One pictures the maker, the clay, the very landscape being kneaded into meaning. How did they shape this without a wheel? Just hand-built, I assume. Curator: Indeed. Each curve a testament to a knowing hand. Vessels like these weren’t merely functional; they were central to Olmec ceremonies, sharing libations among people, and perhaps between this world and others. The crack is also interesting, don't you think? One has to wonder how it broke and what impact this had. Was it still used ceremonially? Editor: That crack! A rupture in the object, perhaps echoing ruptures in the community, the beliefs. Now it tells its own story: survival, endurance despite damage. Makes you consider the lifespan of the piece, the use, the travels… the consumption of the ruling and labor classes involved. Did the elite use these ceramics or were these used in other lower classed settings? Curator: Absolutely. We tend to elevate the pristine, but maybe it’s the imperfection, the marks of use and time, that make an object truly resonate. Editor: So true. The humblest objects, the barest materials transformed by labor, intent, the spark of… dare I say it… *art*. Thank you for drawing my attention to that. Now I will appreciate how common objects can elevate us as human beings.