Barber's bowl c. early 18th century

Curator: The 'Barber's Bowl,' dating back to the early 18th century. An anonymous piece from that era, it's part of the decorative arts collection, right? Editor: It is, yes. And what strikes me immediately is how it breathes – a breezy scene, entirely rendered in cobalt blue on white ceramic. It's unexpectedly calming, this vision in wash. Curator: Exactly! The palette’s constrained but lively. I see a mythical creature, perhaps a griffin. There's this interplay between real and imagined realms, fitting to a daily object that may well have resided in intimate spaces like, well, a barber’s! A mundane place imbued with an imagined beauty, don't you think? Editor: Absolutely. Thinking about it through the lens of social practice, objects like these are never just functional. The lion and the griffin locked in an embrace might function as emblems of protection in unstable times. Like they would give someone sitting there… hope? Curator: Yes, you know the image appears in this basin, this thing associated with everyday activity, is unexpected, as though we might have lost this object of applied beauty. I get some similar emotion by, for instance, looking at decorative objects by William Morris… But do you imagine it’s an object from which to protect oneself or, in this meeting of symbolic creatures, do you see rather reconciliation as a hope of balance? Editor: Reconciliation, maybe more ideal than protection, don’t you think? As someone reclined in that chair? Protection sounds reactive when what is wanted, maybe in this ritual of masculine preening, what we desire from culture, what we might call… justice, balance! A better agreement, more active! Curator: Right, or it's perhaps a reminder of balance as we see reflected… this sort of idealised scene which may stand as the object we long for! Now, after our conversation, I will consider these implications more thoroughly... Thank you! Editor: The pleasure was all mine. I think these details give the bowl its… voice, that maybe these animals were telling something or wanting to be telling… the dreams in our contemporary culture of beauty!