Vase 1883 - 1892

Editor: This is a ceramic vase, made by Chelsea Keramic Art Works sometime between 1883 and 1892. The contrast between the textured off-white body and the almost violently splattered red glaze really catches my eye. What do you see in this piece? Curator: What immediately strikes me is the tension embedded within its creation. We have this object that presents as decorative, something to adorn a domestic space. Yet, the intentionality of the "splatter" reads almost like a disruption, perhaps a subtle rebellion against the restrictive expectations placed on women in domestic sphere at the time. Editor: That's a really interesting point. I was focusing on the aesthetic, but thinking about its purpose and who might have created and used it shifts things. So you are saying this vase perhaps presents ideas around the role of women in the domestic sphere during the late 19th century? Curator: Exactly. Consider the period, the late 19th century: rigid social structures, particularly for women. A ceramic piece like this, made by women, for the home, subtly challenges that. The aggressive glaze, the imperfect form... It becomes more than just decoration. It's a statement. Where did the piece originate, I wonder? Editor: The Met in New York City. Curator: In viewing it through that lens, we start to see the undercurrents, the silent dialogues happening within art. Does it shift your initial aesthetic interpretation? Editor: It does, immensely. I went from thinking about the surface to contemplating the deeper societal implications embedded within this seemingly simple vase. Curator: And that, is the beauty of contextualizing art! The artwork is beautiful, but it gives insight into what it meant to exist at that moment in history.