Dancer 1780 - 1790

This figure of a dancer was made at the Fulda Pottery and Porcelain Manufactory, sometime in the late 18th century. The material is soft-paste porcelain, formed, fired, and painted with incredible delicacy. Porcelain like this was conceived to imitate true or "hard paste" porcelain, which at the time was imported at great expense from China. The European imitations made possible a boom in luxury goods industries. But the great challenge of porcelain is that it is so prone to cracking and collapse in the kiln. Notice the care taken in the manufacture to avoid these problems. It is a testament to the skill involved. The fragility of the material has social significance. Made for a wealthy clientele, porcelain figures like these spoke to elite values of refinement and leisure. It's a far cry from our typical understanding of sculpture, and indeed from our general relationship with luxury objects today.