Bandbox c. 1937

Curator: Here we have John Tarantino’s "Bandbox", circa 1937. It appears to be rendered with drawings on earthenware. Editor: Oh, my, isn't that just utterly charming? It feels so...sweet. Almost like something from a vintage boutique or a particularly elegant grandma's attic. Curator: "Sweet" is interesting, I see an intersection of industrial production, handcraft, and domestic use in its manufacture and design. Its purpose was utilitarian, yet decorated, likely to elevate it beyond mere container to something precious within a household. Editor: Utilitarian and precious, a bit of a contradiction, no? But, I love it! The floral and scroll patterns are gorgeous. All those pale pinks, blues, and creams—it's almost edible! And yet, underneath, I sense a slight melancholy, as though this bandbox holds a collection of fading memories. Do you think its shape tells us something about that feeling? Curator: Perhaps. But before shape, think of process: this bandbox likely resulted from mass-production techniques yet it bears hand-painted flourishes. It reveals tension between the individual artisan’s touch and machine’s repetition, something artists grappled with intensely at the time. What would a home-owner feel about such object? Editor: Yes, of course, production, labor and how they affected perception, but the swirls! It's almost as if they’re telling secrets if you tilt your head just right. And, you can sense someone painstakingly placing each tiny painted bloom, caring for a simple box as though a beloved piece. Curator: Placing it carefully into broader social histories allows questions about consumption of art to emerge—what this piece embodies about cultural tastes in its time, or about the lives involved, and their socioeconomic contexts. Editor: A fading memory or an object of adornment... Isn't it marvelous how one simple container can stir such musings and analyses! Curator: Indeed. And from it, questions around value of handiwork versus that of manufactured commodity get opened.