Pewter Salt and Pepper Shakers c. 1937

Beulah Bradleigh painted these pewter salt and pepper shakers sometime between 1855 and 1995. The image presents a paradox of the readymade, for the artist takes an item mass produced for the table and renders it by hand in watercolor. Considered against the backdrop of the late 19th century’s Arts and Crafts movement, this painting offers a progressive critique of industrialization. Instead of another mass-produced item, Bradleigh calls us to consider the beauty in everyday things, a philosophy born in the designs of William Morris and others. The institutional history of art-making would have considered such subjects pedestrian, even unworthy. To understand the painting more fully, it is helpful to research the status of art and design education in the late 1800s. We can also benefit from looking at the material culture of the United States at that time. In these ways, we come to see how the art of painting is influenced by social forces that determine taste and value.