Dessert Dish c. 1941

Joseph Mitry made this drawing of a Dessert Dish, but we don't know exactly when. Its existence raises interesting questions about the relationship between art and industry. We can guess that it was made in the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century. The rise of industrial production created an enormous demand for design. Objects that had once been unique and handmade were now mass-produced, and designers were needed to create patterns and forms that could be replicated efficiently. Is this drawing a proposal for a new design? Or a record of an existing one? Drawings like this were part of a complex visual culture in which the aesthetic and the economic were closely linked. To understand it better, we might research the history of glass production and study pattern books and trade catalogs. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.