Letter E 16th-17th century

Curator: This is Letter E, an anonymous work held here at the Harvard Art Museums. It's an intriguing piece. Editor: It does have a striking graphic quality, almost like a woodcut print. The contrast is quite bold. Curator: Precisely! Consider the recurring motif of the spiral—it appears within the letter itself, along the border. Spirals often symbolize growth, evolution, the unfolding of potential. Editor: And the choice of black ink creates a sense of weight, of groundedness. I’m curious about the specific tools and labor involved. Was this mass-produced, or something more unique? Curator: Given the period, it may have been used to decorate the beginning of chapters within books, acting as a portal into the text. Even the decorative faces in the corners suggest the human element involved in knowledge production. Editor: That’s a great point! It makes you think about the hands that carved the block and the paper it was printed on. Curator: Ultimately, Letter E invites us to contemplate the power of communication and storytelling across time. Editor: It's a humble object that speaks volumes about the labor behind literacy.