Sugar bowl 1727 - 1728

This sugar bowl was made by James Tait, an Irish silversmith, in the eighteenth century. It's a simple, elegant form, with a spherical body, footed base and tight-fitting lid. The material is sterling silver, a precious metal that has been worked into the bowl. The smooth, reflective surface shows the silversmith's skill in hammering and polishing, and the engraved decoration adds a touch of refinement. The making of an object like this was labor-intensive. Silver would have been mined, smelted, and refined, then carefully shaped by a skilled silversmith, a process that required years of training. The high value of both the material and the craft involved speaks to the growing demand for luxury goods at the time. Sugar itself was also a precious commodity, grown and harvested through slave labor in the West Indies. Consider how the bowl’s design, materials, and creation reflect broader social and economic relationships, and how these distinctions challenge traditional art history categories.