Creamer 1790 - 1820

Curator: Editor: This is an intriguing piece - an anonymous creamer, made of black basalt porcelain, sometime between 1790 and 1820, currently held at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's so sleek and dark. What strikes you about it? Curator: The black basalt porcelain is the key, isn’t it? Consider the technical mastery needed to achieve that color consistently, across the whole form. It’s not just about aesthetics; it speaks to the industrial processes, the division of labor, the raw materials being mined and traded… how does that inform your understanding? Editor: I hadn’t considered the industrial aspect so deeply. It's interesting how a simple object can be tied to so much. So, the color points us towards the technical processes that dominated at the time? Curator: Exactly. And think about the social implications. Who had access to these goods? The means of production shape what is consumed, by whom, and where. This wasn't made by an individual artist, lovingly hand-crafting each piece, but rather manufactured goods made by a labour force that allowed such pieces to be more widely traded to those with the purchasing power to afford them. Editor: So, rather than focusing on individual artistic intention, we’re looking at the socio-economic forces that brought this object into existence and into the hands of particular consumers? Curator: Precisely! And what does that shift in perspective offer us in our understanding of art history, and indeed, material culture more broadly? Does looking at this creamer in that context change your perspective on other artworks we've seen today? Editor: Absolutely. I used to think about style and artist, but now I see how material choices and production methods tell their own stories about society. It's fascinating. Curator: And that opens us to so many new ways of seeing. We've both expanded our perspective today.