Glass Medicine Vial 1935 - 1942

Editor: This watercolor drawing, titled "Glass Medicine Vial," comes from between 1935 and 1942, by an anonymous artist. It gives a sense of quiet melancholy to me. What symbolic meaning might we find in such a humble object portrayed so simply? Curator: Indeed, the simplicity is deceptive. Think about what a medicine vial *represents*. In any era, it's more than just glass and liquid, isn't it? It’s a vessel of hope, a container of potential healing, but also a reminder of vulnerability and mortality. The transparent nature of the glass might symbolize the fragility of life, exposed to illness. Editor: So the act of depicting a vial becomes an acknowledgement of human frailty? Curator: Precisely. The anonymity of the artist further amplifies this. It is a collective, shared experience of seeking cures, battling illness, confronting our own limitations. Even the watercolours, think about it; the dissolving of pigment mirroring the body, fading in time. How do you feel that symbolism might apply, during those specific years it was made? Editor: The late 1930s and early 40s... a time of global crisis, pre- and during World War II. That sense of shared vulnerability, seeking solace in a vial...that carries even more emotional weight now. Curator: And consider the cultural memory carried by medicine. In times of uncertainty, what objects do we turn to? Editor: This gives me so much to think about. Thank you. It seems so obvious now that you have pointed it out, that something like a humble container could contain so much shared experience, memory, and meaning.