Kettle, Basket and Dishes c. 1702

Editor: This is Jacobus Coelemans' "Kettle, Basket and Dishes," an undated engraving residing at the Harvard Art Museums. The somber tonality gives the everyday objects a quiet, almost monumental feel. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: Consider how Coelemans elevates these domestic items. Are they merely objects, or do they represent something deeper about 17th- and 18th-century Dutch society, perhaps the labor and lives of those who used them? Who were the people who owned these humble belongings? Editor: It makes you wonder about the stories these objects could tell. Thanks! Curator: Indeed. Thinking about art as a reflection of labor changes everything.