The phrase "you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear" comes from the Reverend Johnathan Swift (1801) who is widely credited with coining the phrase. However, a similar statement appears in Stephen Gosson's Ephemerides of Phialo in 1579. The saying implies that if something is inherently poor quality or of low value, you cannot make it into something of high quality or value, no matter how much effort is put into it.
André Harvey, b. 1941 Stella (from an edition of 30), 2007, cast 2009
Bronze Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
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