A wooden glass-front shelf holds six glass shelves densely covered with many small white ceramic figurines.

Charles LeDray

Milk and Honey

1994–1996

Not on view

View more by this artist https://whitney.org/collection/works/10418


Two years in the making, Milk and Honey comprises a wood-framed glass cabinet with six glass shelves holding two thousand miniature, hand-thrown porcelain vessels—no two are alike. These small pitchers, pots, bowls, and beakers, some characterized by simple symmetry, others by ornate detail, represent a veritable encyclopedia of ceramic styles, referencing both historical and contemporary sources. All are glazed in varying shades of white, forming a ghostly, subtly differentiated array. The miniature scale suggests that we are looking into a private world, perhaps the world of childhood or childhood memories, while the sealed glass vitrine that contains the vessels alludes to obsessive collecting and proud display. The work's title, a reference to a biblical description of a land of abundance, fertility, and promise, suggests the seemingly limitless variety both of the forms of the vessels as well as of what they might contain.

Classification
Sculpture

Medium
2000 porcelain objects, glass, and wood

Dimensions
Overall: 77 × 30 × 30 in. (195.6 × 76.2 × 76.2 cm)

Accession number
96.75a-b

Credit line
Purchase, with funds from the Contemporary Painting and Sculpture Committee

Rights and reproductions
© artist or artist's estate

API
artworks/10418



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