-Coronation Crown 1953

Curator: Before us is "-Coronation Crown," a metal relief sculpture crafted anonymously in 1953. It resides here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. My immediate response is that the bronze patina creates a rather somber mood, don’t you think? The subdued lighting seems to highlight the intricate detailing but also amplifies a sense of weighty solemnity. Editor: The very materiality speaks of its time. Cast metal, mass-produced; a coronation souvenir marketed with calculated fervor alongside Elizabeth II’s ascension. Think of the workers involved in its manufacture, the commodification of a monarchy. It reduces regal power to mere trinkets for the masses. Curator: Yet the craftsmanship—look at the beaded edges, the subtle variations in relief—lifts it above mere kitsch. Formally, there’s a successful balance between representation and stylized abstraction. Editor: The very notion of "successful balance" reinforces a hierarchy. The artwork exists to commemorate power and legitimize class division through the dissemination of monarchy as desirable spectacle. Look closer: traces remain from tools in manufacturing processes. Curator: Still, you can’t deny that it has captured the zeitgeist. What does the formal language used evoke? Note the carefully planned repetition of royal symbols across a miniature sculpture made with bronze paint in this decorative art. Editor: But is that 'capturing' or manufacturing consent? We are encouraged to accept an entire framework surrounding class hierarchy. Curator: An interesting point to think about considering not just the medium or the object’s presence but the cultural and social influences when it comes to art creation. It is still quite aesthetically attractive given all this complex context it can stir. Editor: Absolutely. That conflict, between its aesthetic appeal and its complicity in a power structure, reveals much about postwar British society. Curator: Well said! It’s been a revealing discussion about this seemingly simple crown! Editor: Indeed! It demonstrates how everyday objects often reveal profound cultural stories regarding power, influence and consumerism when we observe through an interdisciplinary view.