Design for Four Vases 1765 - 1790

This is a design for four vases, delicately rendered in pen and ink, by an anonymous artist. The historical context of anonymity raises many questions. Who was excluded from the historical record? Whose labor was never signed? What does it mean to value certain forms of knowledge over others? The objects depicted are simple and utilitarian, yet the artist has imbued them with a quiet beauty and a sense of dignity. The design asks us to consider the cultural values surrounding domesticity and craft. What does it mean to create beauty in the everyday, and how is this labor valued, or not, by society? These vessels speak to the relationship between gender, labor, and artistry. Reflecting on our own experiences of labor, we might ask: whose work goes unseen, and what does it mean to recognize the value of that labor?