W&L’s Museums Host Third Gallery Talk of Fall Term The discussion on Oct. 20, "A Wilde Teapot: Exploring Race, Gender and Sexuality,” is free and open to the public.

By Erica Turman
October 15, 2021

With a woman on one side and a man on the other, this teapot satirizes the aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 80s, Oscar Wilde, Darwin’s theory of evolution and changing gender roles.

The aesthetic movement stressed the aesthetic, rather than social or political, value of art as well as the pursuit of beauty and self-expression.

The Museums at Washington and Lee University are hosting the third Gallery Talk of the term on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. in Northen Auditorium in Leyburn Library.

The talk, which is free and open to the public to view online or in person, is titled “A Wilde Teapot: Exploring Race, Gender and Sexuality.” Participants can attend in-person in Northen Auditorium or on Zoom at http://tiny.cc/wilde.

Jake Reeves, assistant director of inclusion and engagement for LGBTQ support, will moderate a discussion between Ron Fuchs, senior curator of ceramics, and Sarah Horowitz, professor of history. The talk will examine attitudes toward gender nonconformity and how ideas about a gender binary intersect with white supremacy.

“I’ve had the pleasure of bringing students in classes on the history of gender and sexuality to see the Oscar Wilde Teapot in the past and am so excited to have this event that is open to the public for LGBTQ+ History Month,” said Horowitz. “The teapot is a fascinating object that allows us to better understand the intersections between understandings of a gender binary and ideas about whiteness in the late 19^th century, as well as celebrity culture and Wilde’s status as an icon for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Fuchs will use some of the Reeves collection during the discussion, particularly the Museums’ porcelain teapot inspired by the 19th-century playwright and celebrity Oscar Wilde.

“Ceramics have long been used as a tool of cultural commentary, and this teapot is a particularly blatant example,” Fuchs said. “Made in 1882, it is modeled to look like a man on one side and a woman on the other. It satirizes the aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s, Oscar Wilde, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. It reflects the fear — and fascination — of changing gender roles.”

In addition to the talk, tea and sweets will be served in the Northen Lobby starting at 5:30 p.m.

The talk is sponsored by the Museums at W&L, the Office of Inclusion and Engagement, the LGBTQ Resource Center and the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program.