Three tile panels with Autumn, Summer and Spring c. 1760 - 1780

Curator: These tile panels by Johannes (I) Aelmis, dating from about 1760 to 1780, offer a glimpse into 18th-century life and artistic practices. The title is “Three Tile Panels with Autumn, Summer and Spring.” Editor: My immediate reaction is this evokes a quiet intimacy, something precious and handmade. The cool blues against the white ceramic creates an almost dreamlike state. What sort of environment might these panels have lived in? Curator: Quite likely, these panels were functional pieces, set into a wall perhaps in a kitchen or hallway. Delftware tile panels like these, showing people enjoying the seasons, carried moral weight by depicting an idyllic way of living tied to seasonal change, symbolizing life’s transience and fulfillment found in the natural order. Editor: It’s interesting that such a decorative item likely had utilitarian functions and would have been used every day. And what does it mean to choose fresco techniques – how do we think about these decisions from a material perspective? It seems far from practical… Curator: In Rococo art, representations of courtship, leisure and country life reflect ideas about virtue, pleasure, and idealized love that defined social status for affluent viewers, evoking a sort of cultivated naivete and leisure. What about the cage? Editor: The cage perhaps shows the aspiration toward the possession of the intangible like spring’s beauty captured but restrained, much like high art seeking the ideal form. Were these techniques seen as ‘high’ or ‘low’ forms of making during this time period? Curator: That’s difficult to say since miniature genre scenes in ceramics occupy a sort of middling zone between decoration, craft, and fine art. I would say, given the labor involved, these were costly decorative objects for wealthy buyers. Editor: Thinking about it today helps question these separations – a dialogue continues with each maker who, knowingly or not, asks us to question these artistic boundaries. These works collapse our perception of time. Curator: That's precisely what images can do; they carry memories, and invite conversations through time, reminding us of our relationship with nature. Editor: These modest tiles are surprisingly expansive, they remind us to pause, slow down, and appreciate craft.