Boy Seated Smoking Pipe 1770

Curator: This is a porcelain figure entitled "Boy Seated Smoking Pipe" by the Höchst Porcelain Manufactory. You can find it at the Harvard Art Museums; it is about 15 centimeters tall. Editor: He looks incredibly self-satisfied. There's an arrogance to the tilt of his head as he holds that pipe, which belies the dressing gown and cap. Curator: Figures such as these were popular among the aristocracy as decorative objects, tokens of leisure and high status during a time when tobacco was just becoming more widely available. Editor: The details are amazing. Look at the little bottles and glass on the table next to him. The modeler captured this boy on the cusp of adulthood, engaging in very adult vices. Curator: You're right. The way the artists immortalized this ephemeral moment speaks volumes about the social values surrounding youth and privilege. Editor: It makes me wonder what he's thinking. There is a whole story there in that one little porcelain figure.