Jug 1800 - 1815

Curator: Here we have an eye-catching jug, created between 1800 and 1815 by Sewell and Co. It resides here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: It's surprisingly charming. The reflective bronze lustreware against the raised floral designs creates a tactile contrast, almost begging to be touched. There's an exuberance in its shape and decoration. Curator: This piece exemplifies the Romantic era's fascination with decorative arts and the reinterpretation of nature. Think about the burgeoning middle class during this period, desiring affordable luxuries. The jug, crafted in ceramic, would have been both a functional item and a symbol of status. Editor: Absolutely. The play of light on the metallic glaze gives the jug a dynamic visual presence, a certain theatrical flair. Consider how the light interacts with the flowers' placement—each petal meticulously formed and painted. It gives a certain harmony in its composition, even if there is clear demarcation between form and detail. Curator: Exactly. Pieces like this also speak volumes about the commercial networks of the time. Sewell and Co. clearly tapped into a market hungry for stylish, yet relatively mass-produced, items. It democratized a certain kind of beauty. This contrasts starkly with the traditional view of handcrafted, unique artworks, offering us a window into shifting social values around production and consumption. Editor: I also find it difficult not to focus on the details such as the choice of colors, pink and light purple. These are balanced quite well, offering this decorative jug certain unique qualities as each side showcases the careful attention and consideration for a good use of color theory. It goes to suggest a certain level of self-awareness to the Romantic artistry and artistic practices of that time. Curator: And when we look at how this object was probably used in daily life, the very act of pouring from it becomes connected to larger themes of hospitality, domesticity, and social display during a time of great social change and burgeoning empire. Editor: A single object, rich with layers of meaning revealed through both the hand of its creator, the structure, the choice of color, and the reflection of light, its function and purpose as a vessel that, once now serves to pour information of social practices. Curator: It serves as a reminder of how even everyday objects can tell extraordinary stories about ourselves.