Glass bottle c. 1745

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gold, ceramic, glass

gold

ceramic

glass

vanitas

ceramic

decorative-art

rococo

This is a set of glass bottles and a box, of unknown date, by an anonymous artist. The eye is immediately drawn to the amber color and the gold embellishments. The box, with its array of bottles nestled inside, suggests a hidden world of luxury. The formal qualities speak volumes. The clear, geometric bottles are juxtaposed with the ornate, curvilinear designs of the box. This contrast destabilizes our expectations: utility versus decoration, transparency versus opulence. The semiotic interplay between the box's exterior narrative scenes and the bottles’ silent interiors suggests a coded message about appearance and inner essence. Is it a commentary on the performative nature of luxury, or a deeper reflection on what is hidden versus what is revealed? Consider how this piece challenges fixed meanings, inviting us to question the values we assign to function and beauty. This tension between the material and the symbolic prompts us to consider how objects embody and communicate cultural values.

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minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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The box is decorated with scenes from the life of St. Nicholas of Myra. This fourth century Greek bishop, who was the patron saint of children, sailors and travelers and the guardian of young women, was the forerunner of St. Nicholas or Father Christmas. The gold scenes were applied in a piqué technique whereby thin sheets of gold are impressed into tortoiseshell which has been softened in boiling water and olive oil. Once the shell cools, it contracts and the gold is securely held in place. This technique was first introduced at the end of the sixteenth century in Naples, and by the following century it had spread to France, England and northern Europe, with Paris and Naples as the principal centers. The costly and time-consuming nature of this intricate technique imply that it was used on only the most expensive small luxury items such as inkstands, trays, snuffboxes and boxes for toilet articles, in this case gold-mounted perfume bottles.