Mustard pot 1778 - 1779

Curator: What strikes me immediately is its air of antiquated formality; it seems both delicate and deliberate, almost theatrical. Editor: I agree, it practically demands an audience. We're looking at a silver mustard pot, made between 1778 and 1779 by Jean-Baptiste Saurin. It resides in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curator: The level of detail for such a small object is astounding. The grapevine motif is incredibly symbolic for its time, what do you think of the way this period leaned into classical themes to imply an elevated status? Editor: Exactly. In the late 18th century, allusions to classical antiquity carried tremendous cultural capital. The grapevine is not just decorative. It evokes associations with Dionysus, banquets, and therefore with elite social rituals. These objects, even in their intimate settings, reenacted performances of power. Curator: Yes, it allowed those who possessed the object to participate in a visual narrative of excess and control that reinforced existing hierarchies of access to goods. The filigree of leaves and delicate legs on which it stands remind me of the decadence Marie Antoinette embodied and for which she would pay the ultimate price, and yet the glass seems deceptively accessible? Editor: That dichotomy is incredibly potent. The transparent body reveals its contents while simultaneously obscuring the labor that made that content possible, literally creating a smokescreen, concealing exploitation even within mundane objects like this mustard pot. Its silver ornamentation serves to reify wealth and taste in a manner accessible to an emerging Bourgeoisie. Curator: It is easy to see how that opulence later ignited populist rage! A luxury item like this spoke volumes, perhaps even contributing in its own small way to the rising discontent and eventually, to revolution. Editor: Absolutely. While its small scale makes it almost insignificant on the surface, examining it unearths vast layers of class anxiety and performance. Curator: An intricate lens through which to view seismic social and political upheavals.