"Michelangelo" vase c. 1790 - 1800

Curator: Here we have a "Michelangelo" vase by Wedgwood. The figures feel really burdened, don't they? Editor: They do. It's interesting how the materiality of the vase, probably jasperware, mimics the look of marble sculpture but on a domestic scale. Curator: It’s a potent combination of neoclassical aesthetics and human suffering. The figures seem trapped, their masculinity almost a burden. Editor: And the process—each element, from the figures to the decorative swags, carefully molded and applied. It speaks to industrial production and its effect on labor. Curator: It makes you think about how historical burdens of labor and gender expectations weigh us down even today. Editor: Precisely. Seeing the careful labor involved really shifts how I think about the object’s original context.