Tureen 1800 - 1900

Editor: This is a pencil and print drawing called "Tureen," created sometime between 1800 and 1900. I'm struck by the precision of the lines and the almost architectural quality of what's essentially a fancy soup bowl. What can you tell me about it? Curator: This drawing invites us to consider the broader socio-political context of Neoclassicism. It’s more than just a pretty drawing of a tureen. How does the artist engage with ideas of power and social status through design? Editor: I see your point about social status! How do we make the jump to thinking about activism here? Curator: Well, consider how Neoclassicism was embraced by both revolutionary and imperial powers during this period. This tureen, with its Roman-inspired motifs, is participating in a visual language used to communicate authority and refined taste. It's speaking to anxieties about class and the role of aesthetics in maintaining power. Think about the access needed to acquire or even draw something like this! Editor: So the very act of creating or possessing an object like this was a statement in itself? Curator: Precisely. And what might the conspicuous display of such an object convey in a time of social upheaval? Is it a symbol of stability, or perhaps of detachment from the realities faced by most of the population? Editor: I never thought I could interpret a bowl in so many ways, I think I’m seeing this with completely different eyes! Curator: That's the aim, isn’t it? To expand our perspectives!