Creamer from the -Denmark- coffee service 1958

John Prip made this creamer, part of a coffee service, sometime in the 20th century, using silver, ebony, and probably a lot of elbow grease. Look at how smoothly the light glides across the surface. You can imagine Prip, hunched over his workbench, carefully hammering and shaping the metal, coaxing it into these elegant forms. I wonder, what was he thinking as he worked? Was he imagining the hands that would hold this creamer, the conversations that would unfold around a shared pot of coffee? I bet he was obsessed with the relationships between objects. There’s a little ball near the bottom that disrupts the smoothness. It’s mirrored by the handles and the teapot’s top. It creates this odd rhythm. Craft is like painting, really. It’s about touch, about sensitivity to materials, and about the pleasure of making. I see echoes of mid-century modern design. And, of course, of the Bauhaus, where Prip trained. Artists are always in conversation with one another. That's how we find new ways of seeing, new ways of being in the world.