{"id":542,"date":"2010-12-14T09:55:37","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T14:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/"},"modified":"2010-12-14T09:55:37","modified_gmt":"2010-12-14T14:55:37","slug":"documenting-the-humbler-trades","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/diderots-encyclopedia-exhibit-preview\/documenting-the-humbler-trades\/","title":{"rendered":"Documenting the Humbler Trades"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_543\" style=\"width: 195px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_Bouchonniercorks.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-543\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-543\" class=\"wp-image-543 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_Bouchonniercorks-185x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"185\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-543\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cork Maker<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Diderot\u2019s conception of the mechanical arts as a category of useful knowledge just as valuable as the liberal arts and sciences was a provocative challenge to long-standing prejudices against manual labor. Thought to be more hand than mind, physical work was dismissed as unreflective and unintelligent. Though not immune to these biases, Diderot sought to counter them by showing the complexity, creativity and skill of even the most humble mechanical arts.<\/p>\n<p>Here the implements, products and complex processes characteristic of knife grinding, sword making, and even the cutting of corks are detailed.<\/p>\n<p>In the top image apprentices carve cork stoppers while a woman sorts them; the disembodied hands shown in closeup highlight the skill requisite for even this art.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_544\" style=\"width: 191px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-544\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-544\" class=\"wp-image-544 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001-181x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"181\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001-181x300.jpg 181w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001-618x1024.jpg 618w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001-768x1272.jpg 768w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001-927x1536.jpg 927w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001-1237x2048.jpg 1237w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001-624x1033.jpg 624w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_CoutelierCutler001-scaled.jpg 1546w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 181px) 100vw, 181px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-544\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cutler<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the image to the left, the cutler adopts the inclined pose required to operate the grinding wheel, while the wheel itself is powered by another worker. Behind them, an apprentice files a razor and a woman arranges wares in a showcase.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_545\" style=\"width: 187px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_PlumassierFeathers000.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-545\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-545\" class=\"wp-image-545 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/Case4_PlumassierFeathers000-177x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"177\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-545\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plumassier and Maker of Panaches<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the image to the right, in the plumassier\u2019s shop, hung with peacock tails and ostrich plumes, women attach feathers to the elaborate headdresses and gowns required by courtly patrons. The large feather construction in the center of the vignette is intended for an ambassador\u2019s horse. In plates like these, the viewer was led to think not only about how but also about who made the objects in their world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diderot\u2019s conception of the mechanical arts as a category of useful knowledge just as valuable as the liberal arts and sciences was a provocative challenge to long-standing prejudices against manual labor. Thought to be more hand than mind, physical work was dismissed as unreflective and unintelligent. Though not immune to these biases, Diderot sought to counter them by showing the complexity, creativity and skill of even the most humble mechanical arts. Here the implements, products and complex processes characteristic of knife grinding, sword making, and even the cutting of corks are detailed. In the top image apprentices carve cork stoppers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109,"parent":3215,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-542","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3613,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/542\/revisions\/3613"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/exhibits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}