Octagonal Bottle c. 19th century

Curator: This exquisite object is an octagonal bottle, likely dating from the 19th century, crafted from glass and residing here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. What strikes you most about it? Editor: The color! That deep, almost syrupy, red-orange hue. And the delicate, white swirling lines make me think of something medicinal, but also luxurious. What stories does its design tell? Curator: The decorative style indicates it was certainly meant for display, even if used for holding something practical. Consider the rise of decorative arts as symbols of social mobility in the 19th century, the way acquiring ornate objects signified taste and status. It is as much an object of visual appeal as one with utility. Editor: Those white, curved markings. They almost look like stylized teardrops or even nascent flames rising upwards. Could it have contained something considered precious or sacred, if we dive into symbolical meaning? Perfumes, elixirs... Curator: Absolutely. Remember, the period also saw increasing trade and industrial production making a wider array of luxury items available to a growing middle class. This bottle speaks to aspirations, cultural refinement through crafted material, in this instance, perhaps storing cologne, essential oils. What did its owners want to project? Editor: Perhaps the same things we all want: a little bit of elegance and personal cultivation, housed in an eye-catching container! It also has an otherworldly almost regal charm, as if found in the study of some 19th-century fictional scientist. Curator: Exactly! The placement of such an object becomes a public statement. Not always through galleries, necessarily, but drawing rooms and bourgeois social spaces that reflected social expectations. The display, the politics of interior design becomes important in a broader cultural sense. Editor: I’ll definitely think twice now about simply dismissing such objects as ‘merely’ decorative! Its visual details are indeed a reflection of history! Curator: A perfect convergence of form and historical moment, captured in this seemingly humble bottle!