You know, Koen... one of the things that's important about your find is how close it is. Not just the general form, but the proportions are very close. So this one, at least, is not a product of imagination. I somewhat suspected that might be the case because there are a couple of other containers for which I've found possible models (not the same container, but some of the same parts). This is someone more literal than imaginative, but... imaginative perhaps in the sense of being ingenious rather than being visually creative.
Hmmm. I don't know how to explain this. There are different kinds of creativity and, for the most part, they don't have names.
For example, some people are creative at combining things (collage artists). Some are creative at creating fantastical things. Some are creative at rebuses, some at creating crosswords. All different skills. The VMS illustrator follows a lot of formulaic traditions and also follows real life (viola, etc.). These are more literal or production-line than creative. And yet...there is the hint of ingenuity in the sense that there might be things hidden within the drawings, but that is a different kind of creativity from creating fantastical containers.
Hmmm. I don't know how to explain this. There are different kinds of creativity and, for the most part, they don't have names.
For example, some people are creative at combining things (collage artists). Some are creative at creating fantastical things. Some are creative at rebuses, some at creating crosswords. All different skills. The VMS illustrator follows a lot of formulaic traditions and also follows real life (viola, etc.). These are more literal or production-line than creative. And yet...there is the hint of ingenuity in the sense that there might be things hidden within the drawings, but that is a different kind of creativity from creating fantastical containers.