Siervaas met een leeuw 1750 - 1793

Curator: The immediate impression I get from this ink drawing, dating from 1750 to 1793, is one of controlled, baroque dynamism—all those swirling lines, yet everything contained within the classical form of the vase. It is titled "Siervaas met een leeuw." A vase with a lion. I adore that a work this elaborate reduces down to just a few concrete nouns. Editor: Absolutely, it's like controlled exuberance! The lion, so cheekily draped over the handle, is almost comical, a detail at odds with the vase's almost severe, neoclassical fluting and the various masks decorating its body. What kind of social events or material use might have been suited to an ornate vessel like this? Curator: These types of elaborate objects were often created for the homes of the upper classes, a very literal expression of opulence and an important site for conspicuous consumption. Also the material of ink - often applied to drawings and preliminary architectural ideas - is interesting in this example. It suggests more consideration to the object's artistic status and value, even as a depiction. Editor: So the drawing then exists at an intersection: between functionality and aspiration; and between utility and aesthetics. It's a snapshot into the aspirations of its intended owner. I wonder, what are the politics involved in creating, distributing, and ultimately using and maintaining an artwork such as this drawing of the vase? Curator: Political economy permeates every facet of this era's design, even these sketched blueprints of status. Consider the labor necessary to produce the ink, the paper, and of course the highly trained artistic skills in designing and producing this highly refined item! Then too, all the inequalities present throughout society during that era contributed to and defined a consumer marketplace. Editor: Looking again at the vase, I wonder, how much did these inequalities and constraints paradoxically feed and contribute to creativity and craftmanship? I like that in looking, even casually, we discover an object reveals histories both simple and complex. Curator: Indeed. The object is never just an object, but a dense site of social relations.