Vase 1828 - 1838

This vase was made by Thomas Tucker, although we don’t know exactly when. It is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The vase’s painted scene invites us to think about the relationship between art and industry in 19th-century America. The vase is porcelain, a material closely associated with luxury and international trade. Notice how its delicate landscape painting imitates the aesthetic of fine art while being displayed on a manufactured object for the home. American manufacturers in this period were trying to compete with European imports by creating high-end products that could appeal to wealthy consumers. What does it mean to put a unique landscape on a mass-produced object? Does this vase democratize art, or does it reinforce existing class divisions? Art historians study objects like this through archival research and by paying attention to shifting tastes, industrial developments, and social hierarchies.