Judy Chicago (American, born 1939). <em>Sappho Place Setting</em>, 1974–1979. Runner:Cotton/linen base fabric, woven interface support material (horsehair, wool, and linen), cotton twill tape, silk, synthetic gold cord, padded silk satin fabric, silk thread
Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint), Runner:51 1/4 x 29 3/4 in. (130.2 x 75.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10-PS-10. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2002.10-PS-10_plate_PS9.jpg)

Judy Chicago (American, born 1939). Sappho Place Setting, 1974–1979. Runner:Cotton/linen base fabric, woven interface support material (horsehair, wool, and linen), cotton twill tape, silk, synthetic gold cord, padded silk satin fabric, silk thread Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint), Runner:51 1/4 x 29 3/4 in. (130.2 x 75.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10-PS-10. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2002.10-PS-10_plate_PS9.jpg)

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Could you tell me about this one?

Sappho was a famous and talented poet working in ancient Greece. She was regarded as the "tenth muse" by her contemporaries and pieces of her love poems survive today.

Was she historical or mythical?

Sappho was certainly real person, though we do not know many details of her life. She was from a prominent family on the island of Lesvos and lived around 625 to 570 BCE.

Thank you.

The poet Sappho in the exhibit, I know, was potentially gay and lived on Lesbos. Is that where the term lesbian comes from?

Exactly! The term is actually in reference to Sappho herself!

She was included at The Dinner Party because she has been considered the greatest poet of all time, and because Chicago viewed her work as representative of a "burst of female creativity."

Can you help me understand?

Sappho's plate integrates vulvar and floral imagery which references her erotic poetry and the fact that contemporaries referred to her as the "flower of the graces." The blues are a reference to the Aegean Sea, where she lived.

The Poet, as she was also called, was a pioneer of the lyrical genre; her poems focused on love as a powerful force over the individual. Her writing exists today only in fragments, but it is witty, sensual, and unabashed about female desire.

Tell me more.

Sappho is regarded as one of the greatest writers of ancient Greece and was called simply "the Poetess"–-like Homer was simply called "the Poet"-–by her contemporaries. Much of what is known today of her original poetry has survived through the copying of her verses by other poets. The flower on her plate refers to another of her nicknames, "Flower of the graces," and the blue colors are a reference to the Aegean Sea, which surrounded the island she called home, the Isle of Lesbos. Sappho wrote a number of poems that express her love for other women, and her homeland is the origin of the word “lesbian.”

Sappho Place Setting

Judy Chicago

Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

On View: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

ARTIST Judy Chicago, American, born 1939

MEDIUM Runner:Cotton/linen base fabric, woven interface support material (horsehair, wool, and linen), cotton twill tape, silk, synthetic gold cord, padded silk satin fabric, silk thread Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint)

DATES 1974–1979

DIMENSIONS Runner:51 1/4 x 29 3/4 in. (130.2 x 75.6 cm) Plate:14 x 15 x 1 in. (35.6 x 38.1 x 2.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2002.10-PS-10

CREDIT LINE Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

CAPTION Judy Chicago (American, born 1939). Sappho Place Setting, 1974–1979. Runner:Cotton/linen base fabric, woven interface support material (horsehair, wool, and linen), cotton twill tape, silk, synthetic gold cord, padded silk satin fabric, silk thread Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint), Runner:51 1/4 x 29 3/4 in. (130.2 x 75.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10-PS-10. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2002.10-PS-10_plate_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 2002.10-PS-10_plate_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013

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RIGHTS STATEMENT © Judy Chicago

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