Vaas met bloemen 1770 - 1780

This drawing of a vase with flowers was made by an anonymous artist, using pen and brown ink. The fine lines of the drawing, rendered in sepia tones, give the vase a delicate, almost ephemeral quality. But consider the real-world object that's being represented here: a substantial urn, probably made of stone or ceramic, adorned with garlands and set upon a plinth. Vases like this would have been prominent displays of wealth in gardens of the period. The flowers they contained, often imported at great expense, were another signifier of status. The drawing itself, with its precise draftsmanship, reflects the skilled labor involved in both the design and potential fabrication of such an object. It reminds us that even seemingly effortless displays of beauty often have a complex relationship to labor, politics, and consumption. It challenges the divide between fine art and decorative arts.