Candle Mold Filler 1941

This watercolor on paper depicts a ‘Candle Mold Filler’ by Oscar Bluhme. Its concept connects to larger social and cultural contexts that touch on labor, craftmanship, and pre-industrial manufacturing. This image creates meaning through a detailed rendering of the object, emphasizing its design and function. Given Bluhme's dates, it was likely made in the United States sometime in the 20th century, a time when the country’s economic structure shifted from manufacturing to a more service-based economy. The candle mold filler is a symbol of pre-industrial labor. The artist highlights the importance of tools in labor and in shaping social conditions. It also suggests a commentary on the changing social structures of his time, when many traditional crafts were becoming obsolete. As historians, the interpretation of art is contingent on social and institutional context. We might use trade catalogs, patent records, and social histories of labor to understand it better.