Bowl c. 1770

Curator: It's quite striking, isn't it? Editor: A cool, crisp chill settles right down my spine! The world reduced to indigo dreams. Curator: That’s one way to describe it. This is a porcelain bowl made by the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company around 1770. The landscape motif clearly draws on Asian artistic traditions. Editor: Ah, the old cultural exchange, eh? It does have that "faraway shore" feel. Kind of a polite dream of the Orient as filtered through... Bath? I'm just imagining a powdered wig getting all excited about pagodas. Curator: Indeed. During this period, there was a great fascination with Asian art, especially Chinese porcelain, and British manufacturers sought to capitalize on its popularity, blending these styles for a Western consumer base. Think about the historical context: trade routes, colonial expansion, and the emergence of global markets are all shaping aesthetic preferences. Editor: So, a delicate dance of appropriation, reimagining, and pure marketing genius? Though I have to admit, they captured the feel well – that breezy, watery, almost melancholy sense of space. And those buildings... are they supposed to be Chinese? Or a Britsih take of the Chinese culture. Curator: Likely, they were intended to evoke Chinese architecture, while catering to British sensibilities, thus offering an 'exotic' yet relatable scene. Note how the blue pigment, though likely intended to imitate Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, reads differently in this execution. It hints at idealized escapism in English aristocratic settings, revealing how art and utility merge. Editor: An escapist bowl! Love it. You could sail away every morning at breakfast. Or hide all your fears inside. Now, knowing all this historical detail certainly gives the art context; I would see something cute, some Asian influence, the blue, the architecture and move on without it meaning more to me. Thanks to you now, it actually has. Curator: It all makes you wonder who first gazed upon this little landscape in their hands, eh? Editor: Makes one pause before slurping down those corn flakes!