Milk jug 1750 - 1770

Curator: Before us, we have a "Milk Jug" created sometime between 1750 and 1770 by the Fürstenberg Porcelain Manufactory. You can find it on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Well, my first thought is that it's remarkably austere for decorative art. I'm used to porcelain being ostentatious. This piece has this muted palette... monochrome really... despite the clear intention of luxury. Curator: It's more than just decorative; consider its use-value. This jug existed within very specific social structures. Milk, cream – these were commodities, tied to agricultural production, labour. This jug becomes a silent player in the dynamics of class and consumption. Editor: Exactly, porcelain itself was a coveted material. Note the clean lines, the high level of skill required for these fine decorations. I am curious how these images were made—did they apply decals on top of the fired porcelain or were they directly painted by highly trained laborers? The factory surely mass-produced these objects. Curator: Consider the maritime scene depicted – a ship, figures on the shore. These aren’t just pretty pictures; they evoke the vast colonial networks that shaped 18th-century life. Trade routes, exploitation, power dynamics – they're all implied here, especially when this item would be used to host gatherings, potentially normalizing those trades. Editor: It makes one question the value of something so functional being rendered into this object of desire. I would be really interested to know how its original commissioners or owners made sense of their everyday acts. Curator: Perhaps a constant reinforcement of their status? Using the jug would literally have them consuming the symbolic capital it represented. But looking closely we also see the detailed, handcrafted designs in decorative art, a kind of coded rebellion against mass production and industrialized labor itself. Editor: Ultimately, whether viewed as purely aesthetic or a cog in broader social forces, I find it telling that this Milk Jug speaks volumes about its era, especially given the limitations of a black and white medium that it carries. Curator: Absolutely. It is a powerful thing when an object that we still commonly have provides that sort of complex access to understanding life from centuries ago.