Pa. German Butter Mold c. 1938

Curator: Before us we have Albert Levone's study of a "Pa. German Butter Mold," dating from around 1938. It’s rendered with pencil and watercolor. What are your initial impressions? Editor: My first thought is “comforting.” The warm brown hues and the circular format evoke a sense of the domestic and perhaps childhood. Is there something revolutionary in the mundane? Curator: Absolutely. Folk art is, after all, art for the people, often embodying ancestral and local visual languages. Note the central motif: a stylized eagle. Eagles often serve as powerful symbols. Editor: Eagles are pervasive throughout colonial visuality and are deployed for very different ends. Here, the eagle feels softer, gentler than the kind weaponized for, say, imperialist nation-building. And the additional floral decorations, with their symmetrical patterning, seem to temper any association with aggression. Curator: Right. Consider how deeply rooted nature symbolism is in Pennsylvania German culture. Birds connect to the heavens and act as divine messengers, a thread woven through generations. It’s the Pennsylvania Dutch variation on the tree of life. It may seem quaint at first, but it acts as a cultural cornerstone. Editor: So, through a daily object, Levone's drawing allows us to touch the deeper symbolic roots of this community and hints at the resistance and continuity of culture despite marginalization? Curator: Exactly. Think of how the butter mold literally impresses the eagle image onto food, making every meal a reinforcement of cultural identity. This resonates even today! Editor: It makes me reconsider our relationship to everyday objects. There's power embedded in these tools that extend well beyond utility. What does it mean that Levone documented this as a drawing? Curator: Perhaps he recognized the beauty and significance embedded in the everyday. To preserve, archive, and share these artifacts connects to collective memory. Editor: So it preserves a legacy while also subtly underscoring the artistry of what is conventionally perceived as purely utilitarian. Curator: It is an assertion that folk art deserves careful appreciation and an important piece of cultural inheritance, even in modern times. Editor: A fascinating detail! The act of preserving becomes almost as politically significant as the preserved object itself. Thanks!