Platter (one of a set) 1740 - 1750

Curator: Looking at this platter from the Doccia Porcelain Manufactory, made sometime between 1740 and 1750, I'm immediately struck by its decorative charm. It’s currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: It gives me the impression of a whimsical theatrical stage—though with an off-kilter postcolonial performance underway! The colors are muted yet present, like figures fading from memory yet persisting. Curator: Right? It feels both playful and studied, like someone really enjoyed rendering the figure, animal and flowers, the painting on the porcelain itself. This particular piece—part of a larger set—showcases the Rococo taste for the exotic and ornamental, but there's also something deeply weird about this character, this... vision. Editor: The so-called exotic, presented through a European gaze of course. I wonder, who is this purple-robed man meant to represent? And that almost comical dog... Or perhaps the piece is inviting a wider exploration of cultural appropriation. This cartoon caricature raises numerous questions about identity and representation during that period. Curator: That’s true—the entire scene feels staged, intentionally flattening other cultures into accessible stereotypes. Yet there is something unsettling. Like… he looks as surprised to be there as we are to see him. Editor: The vibrant Rococo style, with its roots in courtly excess, often obscures the socio-political power dynamics at play. It is a fantasy that, under scrutiny, unravels into complex commentary on the relationship between Europe and the "Orient." Who profits from this relationship, then and now? Curator: Exactly. This piece challenges me to re-examine our inherited histories. And perhaps it is a way into considering the objects we still chose to surround ourselves with today. Editor: And who has the luxury to acquire or not acquire these artifacts.