Vaas bedekt met wijnranken c. 1650

Editor: Here we have Georges Tournier’s “Vase Covered with Grapevines,” from around 1650. It looks to be some kind of print, possibly an engraving. I find the texture fascinating, the way the vines and figures are rendered. What’s your take on it? Curator: For me, the key to this piece is in its materiality. We see a reproduction of a presumably very expensive vase, rendered accessible through the mass-producible medium of print. This raises questions about the accessibility of luxury goods in the 17th century. Who was this print *for*, and what did its production say about art patronage at the time? Editor: So you're saying the medium itself, the engraving, is just as important as the image it depicts? Curator: Absolutely. Consider the labor involved in both creating the original vase *and* reproducing it through printmaking. There's a whole social context embedded within the processes, a hierarchy of artistic skill. The engraver is replicating the original artisan's work but transforming it through a different form of labor, introducing an entirely new form of dissemination of the piece. Were there similar power dynamics present during its time of manufacture? Editor: That's fascinating. It almost democratizes the object, bringing what was exclusive to those who could afford these large luxurious pieces into a tangible way to be seen, handled and owned for common people, printed onto paper? Curator: Exactly. The act of reproduction becomes a critical lens through which to examine class, craft, and the burgeoning art market of the period. What statement, if any, does it make to see a vase covered in wine accoutrement replicated so many times over? Editor: I hadn't considered that the print itself was part of the art's statement. I see it in a different way now. Curator: And that's the beauty of understanding art through its materiality. We dig into how and why it was made to reveal so much more.