Grease Lamp c. 1939

This Grease Lamp seems to have been made by Yolande Delasser in, I don't know when, using graphite and maybe some watercolor. Imagine her standing in front of the object, charcoal in hand, squinting, deciding where to start. Maybe she started with that satisfyingly chunky handle, building up the tones slowly, layer by layer, each stroke defining the form. I like the subtle smudging that gives the lamp weight and volume. You can almost feel the cool, smooth surface of the ceramic. I wonder what Delasser was thinking as she drew? Was she simply recording what she saw, or was she trying to capture something more – the lamp's history, its purpose, its quiet presence? It makes me think about Morandi and his bottles. It makes you realize artists are always talking to each other. They are in conversation through time.