Sugar and Tea Box c. 1936

Editor: This watercolor drawing, "Sugar and Tea Box" created around 1936 by Edward L. Loper, depicts a handcrafted wooden box. I find its meticulous rendering quite captivating. What do you see when you look at it? Curator: I see a reflection of labor and the materials economy of its time. Loper painstakingly represents this object. Consider the function of a "sugar and tea box" in the 1930s. It's a container for commodities, reflective of trade and perhaps even social class. How do you think the artist’s choice of watercolor and drawing adds to our understanding of the object? Editor: That's interesting! Maybe the deliberate, handcrafted nature of the drawing emphasizes the crafted quality of the box itself, and, as you mentioned, alludes to the labor involved in making it. Curator: Precisely. Watercolor and drawing were often used for technical illustrations. Do you think this image is purely representational, or does the choice of materials themselves—the handmade paper, the carefully applied pigments—contribute to a commentary on the value we assign to both "art" and everyday objects? Editor: It pushes you to think about it differently. Seeing it framed as a confluence of labor, materials, and commodity value shifts it from a still-life study to something far more complex. Curator: Exactly! By considering its materiality, the "Sugar and Tea Box" becomes a lens through which we can examine production and consumption in the 1930s. Editor: This makes me want to research the role sugar and tea played in commerce and consumption back then. Thanks for pointing this out! Curator: It's these often overlooked connections that enrich our understanding of art and the world around us.