Sauce Dish 1885 - 1888

Curator: What strikes me immediately about this sauce dish, aside from its obvious fragility, is its light, almost playful disposition. Editor: It’s true, there’s an inherent joy. This piece, identified as "Sauce Dish," dates to around 1885-1888. It was made by the Richards and Hartley Flint Glass Company, here in the States. What you are sensing is due in large part to the use of glass. Curator: The meticulous arrangement of circular protrusions reminds me of clusters of grapes or bubbles. They could represent abundance or the ephemeral nature of joy. This is so evocative of celebration! What a time capsule! Editor: Functionally, these 'bubbles' create interesting refractions. Do you think it speaks to wealth that ordinary materials could be crafted for beautiful and functional use? I'm quite fixated by the structural logic and rhythm here. Curator: I believe so. The care put into designing even everyday items speaks to a different set of values. A society that emphasizes beauty, reflection, even in a mere vessel for condiments. Think of the symbolic importance of condiments in any culture! They indicate status, access to flavors, sophistication! Editor: True. Consider the circular patterns echoed throughout—bubbles on the bowl, scalloped edge, even the stepped tiers of the base. It’s as though the whole object resonates. Do you get the impression that all this attention and ornamentation serve not just beauty, but status, memory? Curator: Certainly. The echoes of roundness create harmony and reinforce the importance of holding. Food and communal eating being some of the strongest components of many cultural and familial bonds across societies. The piece creates a tactile and a visual narrative: stories of tables filled with food and community! Editor: What an unexpected abundance of texture, so delicately realized. Curator: Precisely! These relics allow us access points, don't they? Editor: Absolutely! A formal poem cast in glass.