Churn c. 1940

This watercolor, titled "Churn," is a straightforward rendering of an everyday object. I imagine the anonymous artist, maybe in the early twentieth century, carefully mixing their blues and grays to capture the coolness of the ceramic. I keep thinking about the relationship between craft and art, the blurry line, right? Think about the floral motifs; they give this utilitarian object a certain grace. I wonder, did the artist meticulously copy the churn's decorations, or did they improvise, adding their own flourish? There’s also a second version of the churn in the upper right corner, maybe a study of the churn in its entirety? I’m guessing they were interested in rendering the churn from different viewpoints. It reminds me of Morandi and his bottles, how he could make the mundane sublime. And, like Morandi, this artist invites us to consider the beauty in simplicity and to elevate ordinary objects through close looking and careful rendering.