Dish c. 1760

This dish was made in the mid-18th century at the Chelsea Factory in London, out of soft-paste porcelain. This material, developed in Europe to imitate Chinese hard-paste porcelain, is notable for its glassy surface and delicate nature. The dish is decorated with molded grape leaves and hand-painted with swags of foliage and flowers. Notice how the Chelsea porcelain manufactory used molds to press the clay into detailed forms, which shows a division of labor. Some workers would have prepared the clay, others operated the molds, and still others applied the colorful enamel decoration. The emphasis on handcraft conceals the growing industrialization of ceramics at the time, obscuring the amount of labor involved. It catered to the tastes of the British elite, who were eager to consume fashionable, luxurious goods. Ultimately, this dish shows us how deeply connected design is to labor, politics, and consumption. It encourages us to look closely, and to challenge traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.