Bottle c. 1830

Editor: So this object is a ceramic bottle from about 1830. It looks like an anonymous piece, currently residing at the Art Institute of Chicago. The figure and overall execution are a bit...folksy? I’m curious, what catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the bottle's materiality. Earthenware like this, produced in the 1830s, speaks to the industrial developments impacting craft. This wasn’t high art; it was molded, possibly slip-cast—methods developed to make production faster, reaching a wider audience for utilitarian, though perhaps "decorative," goods. Notice the inscription, "I strike the Mormon Proper"—what's that communicating? Editor: Hmm, perhaps it was mass produced as some sort of propaganda against the Mormons? Or, paradoxically, maybe it was marketed to them directly, thus 'striking' a business deal? I am really intrigued by that inscription! Curator: Exactly! The inscription, combined with the somewhat caricature-ish figure, tells us about the social context in which it was created and circulated. The object isn’t just a container, it's a commentary. What materials, processes, and who they employed is vital to interpretation, revealing social hierarchies, tensions and beliefs. Editor: That's a very different way to see it compared to how I normally would— I generally just think of aesthetics. Curator: Aesthetics, too, reflect materials, labor, and process. It prompts: Who made it? Why this form? How did consumption interact with burgeoning Mormonism? Editor: This definitely gives me a new appreciation for what appears to be an unassuming, even rudimentary object. Considering production and its place in the market, the narrative deepens considerably. Curator: Indeed. It pushes us to ask, how can we move beyond mere appreciation and understand how these artifacts acted within broader networks of material culture?