Snuffbox 1750 - 1765

Editor: Here we have a porcelain snuffbox, made sometime between 1750 and 1765 by the Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory. It's currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's small, intricate, and depicts a child playing with animals. What story does it tell, do you think? Curator: This snuffbox is an object loaded with social meaning, not just visual delight. Think about porcelain in the 18th century. It wasn’t just material; it was a signifier of wealth, global trade routes, and even colonial exploitation, because the raw materials had to be shipped to Europe to make such things. How does the production itself – the labor of mining clay, the specialized craftmanship of shaping and firing the porcelain, all of which require resources – contribute to its meaning? Editor: So, the beauty is tied to some uncomfortable truths? Curator: Precisely! And consider the function: snuff. Tobacco use and the fashion for taking snuff involved entire economies. Does this luxurious object challenge our conventional separation between high art and low craft, between the artist's studio and the plantation? Editor: I never considered all of those implications from a simple object, I will definitely research further into the materials, makers and markets associated with decorative art such as this! Thank you! Curator: Looking beyond the surface, and digging into the real making of art enriches our view.