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Cod Tureen
In David Regan’s "Cod Tureen," an assortment of marine creatures emerge grotesquely from the mouth and slit belly of a massive, upturned codfish. The distinctive black and white sgraffito technique Regan used to describe the scene is evocative of older allegorical engravings—such as "Big Fish Eat Little Fish" (1557), an engraving after a composition by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, which was inspired by a Latin proverb about the strong preying on the weak.
Regan noted of his ceramic vessels, ‘“Pottery interests me as an art form because it nourishes both body and spirit. It has a connection to everyday sustenance and can be a powerful reminder of simple, yet vital necessities.” Illustrating the violent realities of the food chain upon which human survival depends, "Cod Tureen" also points to the primal origins of our formal rituals of consumption, as tureens are used to serve soups or stews that are often made from hunted animals.
- Artist
- David Regan
- Title
- Cod Tureen
- Date
- 1997
- Object Type
- Food
- Medium
- Glazed porcelain and oxide pigment
- Dimensions
- 12 x 26 in. (30.5 x 66 cm); 12 x 26 x 13 in. (30.5 x 66 x 33 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Dorothy and George Saxe to the Fine Arts Museums Foundation
- Accession Number
- 2002.148.35a-b