Ornament Containing Kneeling Boy and Turkey 1775 - 1825

Curator: Look at this delicate thing! “Ornament Containing Kneeling Boy and Turkey,” an anonymous piece from somewhere around 1775 to 1825, residing here with us at the Met. Isn’t it charming? Editor: It is... peculiar. A sort of high-low marriage of cherubic decoration and, well, poultry. Immediately, I'm interested in what it might have ornamented and who its commissioner might have been. Curator: Exactly! You can almost see the artisan’s hand at work, sketching, considering the purpose it’s intended to fill. Probably an etching or a print, judging from the style and the timeframe, maybe even a preliminary design. You can see the pencil lines so clearly... Editor: I'm struck by the presumed means of reproduction. It's all lines –etching probably. You see the work of labor and reproduction: What does it mean to put something of everyday, rural labor next to that idealized little cupid figure? Curator: A cheeky juxtaposition, maybe? A feathered friend for our classical pal? The turkey seems almost...regal here, in its own odd way, mirroring the cherub's contemplative mood. What I'm wondering about, and I suspect is lost to us now, is whether these sketches are meant to convey some narrative. Or are we simply supposed to admire these little islands, complete in themselves, contained by their frames and borders? Editor: It's interesting to see a rejection of the grand, sweeping narrative, isn't it? Instead, you get this... fragment. I fixate, too, on the production aspects. Was the artist part of the "grand narrative" world, or closer to craft practices? What kind of "labor" were they engaged in? Curator: Perhaps they straddled both worlds, then. And really, isn't that what gives the image its spark, that frisson of two worlds, both elevated and grounded? Editor: Yes! Exactly, and maybe there’s an attempt here to erase or obscure that difference between fine art and functional ornamentation? Or maybe just play with the class-based expectations associated with both of them. Food for thought indeed... or is that fowl for thought, here? Curator: Oh, I like that! Well, on that appetizing note, shall we move on? I know the Medieval Tapestries are calling your name.