Tankard with man drinking from jug 1880 - 1890

Curator: Look at this intriguing ceramic piece from the late 19th century. It's a tankard crafted by Haviland & Co. between 1880 and 1890, currently held at The Met. The scene depicts a man deeply engaged in the act of drinking, jug in hand. What do you make of it? Editor: My immediate impression is how… earnest it feels. Not in a preachy way, but there's this feeling of someone truly reveling in a simple pleasure, even isolated as if nobody sees or judges. Almost as if he forgets everything by submerging his lips on that earthenware piece. What medium we're exactly looking at here? Curator: The primary material is earthenware, a form of ceramic, enhanced with sculpted details. When considering decorative arts from this era, pieces like this often aimed to bridge fine art with functional design, don’t you agree? Editor: Exactly. This tankard offers a great example of the material process intertwining function and design. This sort of thing makes you wonder about the cultural role of ceramics and the skilled labor involved to transform mundane clay into an art. Each layer speaks, but also hides some context related to work conditions of factory artisans to satisfy consumer tastes of the elites. Curator: It definitely humanizes decorative pieces. Considering that Haviland was a company creating objects for a wealthy clientele, perhaps this kind of figuration on an everyday object allowed for a glimpse into a different type of life or storytelling, offering a sentimental reflection of the everyday man. Editor: Perhaps a manufactured sentiment. But it speaks to how art can commodify and transform our perspectives on labour, or, here, pleasure. This object exists thanks to the hard labour, while offering the potential of carefree happiness that many workers might never get. Curator: A complicated relationship. Looking again at this tankard, the contrast between the simple subject matter and the care of execution suggests a wider discussion about how objects reflect—and maybe obscure—social and cultural dynamics. Editor: Yes. So, in a sense, the object itself embodies this tension between use, artistry, labour, and representation, reflecting a key shift in late 19th-century artistic approaches. Curator: Well, after this intense experience with such unusual artwork I'll go celebrate a drink, and perhaps find myself another earthenware masterpiece that might lead to further profound debates. Editor: And I will delve deeper into the archival context of these artisans, maybe get to finally put a face to the tankard itself, that speaks of hidden class inequality and the beautiful simplicity of such objects.