The Collector’s Story

Department of Art History Emeritus Professor Frank Horlbeck believes Victorian molded jugs are beautiful and fascinating. When he was a student, gathering visual materials for research, seeing Gothic jugs like the York Minster Apostle’s sparked his fervor for collecting. Jugs are utilitarian, and jugs in 19th-century Britain were mass-produced, but came in a variety of sizes and colors and a multitude of designs. Professor Horlbeck takes pleasure in collecting the whole array of jugs from this era and yearns to know the stories behind the people who designed, molded, fired, painted, and used them. What drinking vessels in your life tell your stories? Professor Horlbeck believes that every day, utilitarian things can be valuable.

Will the milk jug in your fridge one day be in an art museum?

Will your favorite mug appear in someone’s cabinet of curiosities? What beauty do you see in your everyday objects?

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