Dimensions: height 227 mm, width 163 mm, height 240 mm, width 290 mm
Copyright: Rijks Museum: Open Domain
This photograph depicts a "Sf. Pagottan Serpentijn kookpan van 300 H.L. met roodkoperen dubbele bodem" (or Sf. Pagottan Serpentine cooking pot of 300 H.L. with red copper double bottom) of unknown date, by an anonymous artist. The composition is structured by a very tight range of grayscale tones, variations in light that create a tactile experience. It's a high contrast image, with almost no mid-tones, and so the eye jumps around. There are a lot of little details, like the gauges and valves, and my eye lingers on each of these. I’m struck by the marks on the pot itself. The texture of the wooden planks contrasts with the copper detailing. I wonder about what kind of labor produced this object, the types of gestures involved in making such an object. It reminds me of some of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s photography, documenting industrial structures and architecture. There's a sense of the handmade here, but also the mechanical, and it's about the ambiguity between the two.
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