Glass Globe - Wax Flowers 1937

Editor: Right, so here we have J. Howard Iams' pencil drawing, "Glass Globe - Wax Flowers", from 1937. There's an almost ghostly quality to the rendering, and that domestic item preserved inside hints at mortality, doesn’t it? As an object, it seems… almost oppressively sentimental. What historical lenses might help us interpret it? Curator: It's a fascinating glimpse into popular Victorian traditions extending well into the early 20th century. Wax flowers, carefully arranged and enshrined under glass domes, represented an attempt to capture and preserve beauty and memory, reflecting a specific cultural fascination with mourning and remembrance. Consider how mass-produced goods were becoming more available; a piece like this straddles handmade craft and aspirational middle-class display. Editor: So it's about class, as well as sentiment? It feels removed from current ideas about memorializing. Curator: Precisely. The democratization of goods made displays of supposed “refined taste” more performative. Does the starkness of the pencil drawing itself inform that tension, perhaps suggesting a longing or inability to fully realize that middle-class aspiration during the Depression era? Editor: The pencil does give it a sort of incomplete, fragile feel. Like a memory fading. Curator: Consider also how gender dynamics played a role. These decorative arts were frequently associated with women and domesticity, marking the home as a sphere of emotional and cultural labor. Understanding these contexts is vital for understanding the artwork. Editor: That makes so much sense. I'm seeing this as a historical artifact in a whole new light! I'm struck now by its connections to gender, class, and bereavement and how tastes change. Curator: Exactly! Art serves as a potent marker of social values, even something seemingly simple as this drawing can reveal a great deal.