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Stanford University
Cantor Arts Center’s new exhibit gets a handle on unique pieces from the permanent collection

Cantor Arts Center’s new exhibit gets a handle on unique pieces from the permanent collection

Teapot

Josiah Wedgwood (English, 1730–1795), Teapot, c. 1800-1820. Stoneware. Committee for Art Acquisitions Fund. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University

Consider the humble handle. Most likely you don’t consider it, but you do use one every time you drink a cup of coffee, lift a suitcase or open a cabinet. The German sociologist Georg Simmel wrote an entire treatise, “The Handle,” in 1911, calling attention to the fact that it is both a functional and aesthetic object.

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