Verkoper van aardewerk 1613 - 1667

Curator: So here we have “Verkoper van aardewerk,” or "Pottery Vendor" which was produced anonymously sometime between 1613 and 1667, a bustling little scene rendered in engraving. What strikes you immediately? Editor: The labor, of course! The vendor stooped under the massive burden of pottery he carries – I’m immediately drawn to that back-breaking weight, to the sheer materiality of it all. He *is* the shop. Curator: Yes! It makes you think about what it cost them. To lug these goods, which seem fragile as whispers, into town. And you have the man with a stick and hat as counterpoint: maybe the local big-shot or a broker of some sort. Notice how aloof he seems. Almost theatrical in that broad hat. Editor: There’s such a hierarchy embedded in something as simple as buying pots! These weren't just objects of use. Consider the Dutch Golden Age, the rise of mercantilism, these pots become part of that visual rhetoric of prosperity and access. Were these even for the common person? Curator: It does beg the question, doesn't it? I wonder about the lives, mundane but maybe exquisite in some small way, that would orbit around these vessels. Picture the hands that shaped them, the conversations held over a humble earthenware cup... Isn't it something how a simple print can contain multitudes? It becomes less about the thing itself and more about its echoes. Editor: But, without the materiality, without the dirt under their fingernails, we wouldn't have the echoes to contemplate! This little print becomes a powerful document, illustrating not just a scene, but the invisible tendrils of labor, consumption, and social class woven into everyday objects. Curator: You’re right. It grounds the ethereal imaginings to something palpable. Now, I find myself itching to touch some clay. Perhaps it is that humble touch that links us through time.