Mercury 1745 - 1800

Editor: So, this is "Mercury", a porcelain and glass sculpture created by the Haly workshop sometime between 1745 and 1800. They’re currently housed here at the Met. I'm really struck by the materiality—the almost uncanny smoothness of the porcelain against the fragile-looking glass. How do you approach something like this from your perspective? Curator: The use of porcelain is interesting here. Its rise to prominence in Europe mirrors the expanding global trade networks of the 18th century. Consider the labor involved. Each figure would have required specialized skills. The modelling, firing, painting – each step reflecting divisions of labor within the workshop. It speaks to emerging capitalist structures and the commodification of art itself. Editor: That’s a great point. It's easy to just see a pretty figure but thinking about the manufacture process definitely adds another layer. Curator: Exactly. The very choice of porcelain, a material once so rare and coveted, reflects social status and consumption. These were luxury items, indicative of the wealth and taste of their owners. Consider how they were displayed, consumed almost like confectionery, markers of refined sensibility. Look also at the details on the base. Is that painted? Editor: I think it might be, the colors look too consistent. Curator: See how the glass accentuates certain features. How would that play into contemporary trends? What kind of role does artifice play? Editor: Thinking about them as luxury items meant for display reframes them, giving them social meaning beyond the figures themselves. Curator: Precisely. It encourages us to question what it meant to own and display such objects during that era and perhaps even today, shifting the focus from aesthetic value alone. What would we consider the "social value" here, thinking about access, labor and use of material? Editor: It gives me a better insight of both art piece, and its surrounding social context. I will definitely remember that! Curator: Absolutely, looking through such lens gives such artefacts a whole new meaning.