Coffee urn 1733

Curator: Good morning. Today, we’ll be discussing a remarkable silver coffee urn, dating back to 1733. It is part of the decorative arts collection, found here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: My word, it is shiny, isn't it? Looks like something straight out of a fairytale... imagine it filled to the brim and steaming with some delicious beverage. Curator: Its Baroque style is evident in the intricate sculptural detailing, particularly the foliate patterns adorning its surface and base. As a material, silver in the early 18th century served not only practical use but, more importantly, was a highly visible symbol of wealth and status. Owning something like this placed you amongst a small elite. Editor: Totally; there's such a visual overload of decoration that borders on being obscene. It's both impressive and somehow repellent, right? Like pure conspicuous consumption frozen in silver... you almost don't want to even touch it, too fancy and loaded, not even approachable somehow, like some snobby character that wants you to admire from a distance. Curator: Certainly, the craftsmanship also highlights how the domestic sphere became a stage for displaying social standing. Each element, from the spouts to the finial, contributed to a narrative of opulence. Consumption and visual display became tightly linked as powerful social statements. Editor: I guess that at the time coffee was more about "being seen" having it rather than just simply enjoying it? All of a sudden, sipping on this urn becomes almost a royal experience—though I suspect most actual royals at the time had much fancier things. All that ornate fussiness and shining light almost overwhelms the real essence of sitting down to drink together. It really transports you back. Curator: Precisely. It allows us to view a snapshot of socio-economic structure through something seemingly simple such as tableware, even today, centuries later. Editor: Well, I guess after all it served a purpose! Anyway, now I'm really dying for a cup of whatever came out of that ornate spigot!