Two-handled cup 1715 - 1735

Curator: Looking at this two-handled cup from the Meissen Manufactory, made between 1715 and 1735, one immediately notices its delicate porcelain body and elaborate decoration. What's your initial impression? Editor: It strikes me as whimsical, yet also oddly formal. Those figures in the upper register... almost like silhouettes playing out some obscure drama. Curator: Exactly! Meissen porcelain, especially during this early period, was all about imitating and then innovating on imported Chinese porcelain. The decorative art shows this style to be distinctly Rococo. Editor: Right. The Rococo aesthetic loved to appropriate imagery and then repurpose it into new and more fanciful contexts. Who were these scenes intended for? The aristocracy, naturally? What role did tea play in establishing these dynamics in Europe? Curator: Tea, coffee, chocolate—these beverages and their associated rituals were exploding in popularity amongst the European elite. Owning porcelain like this was a major status symbol, a signifier of wealth, good taste, and worldliness. Imagine this gracing some noble’s morning tea service... a rather strange scene for sleepy eyes, though. Editor: Obscure, indeed! Look how gendered this imagery would've become, especially during that time. Porcelain, the act of drinking tea—all of these signifiers code an upper-class femininity. Does it subvert the expectation in some ways? It also has its own visual language it’s creating through each stroke. Curator: That’s something that’s really stayed with me with this piece. When you consider the resources—labor, artistry, the actual materials—that went into crafting this relatively small object, it gives you a peek into a very different set of values. Editor: A world obsessed with artifice, perhaps... with power projected through the gleam of porcelain. Curator: And maybe, also, a bit of joy in transforming humble clay into something utterly fantastical.