Sojourner Truth test plate #2, from The Dinner Party
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Object Label
Judy Chicago created this test plate for her room-size installation The Dinner Party (on permanent view on the fourth floor of the Museum), a milestone in twentieth-century art. The installation is composed of a banquet arranged on a triangular table with thirty-nine place settings, each commemorating an important woman from history.
Dedicated to the black abolitionist and feminist Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), this plate depicts weeping for the suffering of the slaves, a mask concealing the real self, and a fist raised in rage and defiance.
Caption
Judy Chicago American, born 1939. Sojourner Truth test plate #2, from The Dinner Party, ca. 1978. Porcelain, overglaze enamels, copper alloy, and Plexiglas, plate: 1 3/8 × 14 in. diameter (3.5 × 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Judy Chicago, 82.165. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 82.165_PS1.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Artist
Title
Sojourner Truth test plate #2, from The Dinner Party
Date
ca. 1978
Medium
Porcelain, overglaze enamels, copper alloy, and Plexiglas
Classification
Dimensions
plate: 1 3/8 × 14 in. diameter (3.5 × 35.6 cm)
Signatures
Signed middle right edge in black script: "J.C. '78"
Inscriptions
Inscribed lower right edge in black script: "Sojourner Truth #2"
Markings
Copper alloy plaque on glued onto back of rise on black Plexiglas base - © JUDY CHICAGO 1975 - 79
Credit Line
Gift of Judy Chicago
Accession Number
82.165
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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Frequent Art Questions
What is this?
This is a test plate for the Sojourner Truth place setting in Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party. Chicago went through a lot of trial and error when creating the dimensional, carefully painted plates. She made many plates as tests of her techniques before creating the final plate that you can see in the installation.Ahh, what’s a test plate?This is basically like a sketch in preparation for the final work!Cool thanks!
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