Creamer 1883 - 1886

Hobbs, Brockunier, and Company crafted this Creamer in 1863, an era when homeware began to reflect the changing tastes of an industrializing society. The gradient of color, fading from a rich, earthy brown to a soft, milky white, evokes the passage of time, a meditation on origins and endings. Consider how color is used in other art forms to convey a sense of change, like the evolution of hues in a Turner sunset, reflecting inner emotional states. The ombre effect mirrors the cyclical nature of life itself— birth, growth, decay— a visual echo of human destiny. Interestingly, this visual depiction of transformation is not limited to Western art. In certain Eastern traditions, similar color gradients in textiles or ceramics symbolize the journey from ignorance to enlightenment. This humble Creamer, therefore, becomes a poignant reminder of our own transient existence.