Ladle 1745 - 1760

Editor: This is "Ladle" created between 1745 and 1760 by Samuel Edwards. It’s a rather elegant, baroque-style ladle made of silver and wood. I’m struck by the contrast between the delicate, almost floral silver bowl and the robust wooden handle. What can you tell me about its significance as a piece of functional art from that period? Curator: Well, looking at this ladle, we must consider the social context of the 18th century. Silverware, especially pieces as ornate as this, signaled wealth and status. Edwards, as a silversmith, catered to a specific, affluent clientele. The use of both silver and wood points to interesting social distinctions. The silver bowl would directly engage with food, making its association with taste, luxury and high society quite clear, whereas the wooden handle is beautifully carved and perhaps symbolic of nature. Does this piece seem aligned to what you know of art patronage at that time? Editor: Yes, the emphasis on display and conspicuous consumption makes sense, but does the relatively plain wooden handle suggest anything about colonial tastes compared to, say, European sensibilities at the time? Curator: That's a fascinating observation. The presence of a wooden handle may have local resonance within the colonies, with materials more readily sourced and worked from native timber. The colonies did develop distinct visual preferences to adapt their visual traditions from their parent countries. Editor: That's really insightful, the ladle becomes an object mediating those identities. I hadn't considered the local dimension that seriously. Thanks for pointing that out. Curator: Precisely! Objects like these aren't just pretty things, but embodiments of specific cultural dynamics and markers of identity in a particular time and place.