Dish 1764 - 1798

Curator: Well, look at this "Dish" by William Will, crafted somewhere between 1764 and 1798. What captures your attention immediately? Editor: The scratches. It’s the everyday-ness made visible. Like photographic evidence of dinners past. And the weight—silver has a certain heft to it, doesn't it? Curator: Absolutely, each scratch whispers a story, and that silver gleam carries its own echoes of use and care. It is far from a still life. Beyond its simple circular shape, one finds depth, history… almost a personality, you could say? Editor: More than a personality, perhaps the echo of ritual. Sharing a meal isn’t just sustenance, is it? Think about it: the symbolism, the table as an altar… food and communal eating are laden. Curator: I like that thought of the table as an altar—transforming the ordinary into something more resonant. A bit cheeky to think of it this way but also profound when looking back in time. A dish transforms from utility to testament. It almost feels holy doesn’t it? Editor: Precisely! Even something seemingly simple, geometric—reveals this layered human experience, culture preserved, even immortalized. A seemingly commonplace dish turns out to be quite a cultural object, full of deeper resonances about human behavior, memory and transformation. Curator: So true. Every detail matters; the curve, the metal's texture. I am taking away new appreciation for this… this unassuming centerpiece from the artist William Will. Thanks! Editor: It was my pleasure. There are messages within objects if we only train ourselves to look for them. This “Dish”, so perfectly imperfect, simply needed decoding.