Tea kettle with warming stand 1714 - 1715

Curator: Oh, look, isn’t it splendid? This is a silver tea kettle with a warming stand. It was crafted in England around 1714-1715, a beautiful example of Baroque decorative art, currently residing here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: Well, that’s… awfully shiny. It sort of feels like a very posh silver balloon animal about to take flight! Curator: Exactly! The Baroque style is all about that sense of movement and drama, isn't it? The bulbous form of the kettle itself, the sinuous curve of the handle... It’s designed to catch the eye, to make a statement. Editor: A statement, indeed! I can’t help but think about who owned this, sipping their tea, probably gossiping about the Jacobite rising. Imagine the conversations this kettle has eavesdropped on! Do you know what kind of socioeconomic context drove people to commission these ornamental but completely frivolous works of art? Curator: Precisely! The culture surrounding tea in the early 18th century was exploding in England as its popularity was closely linked to displays of wealth. These were status symbols as much as practical items and show pieces like this would have definitely impressed their guest. The craftsmanship in the silverwork is so refined... notice the engraved details, the careful balance between the gleaming metal and the warmer wood. I feel so serene, I can't help but admire it and ponder how those original hands created the perfect marriage between aesthetics and function. Editor: But wasn’t all this luxury financed by colonial exploitation? Sugar and tea from plantations… This beautiful object has a complicated past. Though beautiful, it exists within a complicated relationship with colonial powers that created a taste for such things. The consumption became inseparable from the labor, slavery, and extraction upon which it depended. So is this peace serene? Is this design simple? I disagree. I feel uneasy with all its silent complexities! Curator: Oh, that's a sharp and important point! The tea ceremony became symbolic for the elites in England; maybe it's worth examining why and how. Still, perhaps even understanding and coming to terms with how complicit we might be as audiences when we witness these works can be transformative. Editor: Perhaps so. At the end of the day, I feel as though it tells us something very human, or rather inhumane, about power and its aesthetic display.