No. 11 c. 1780

Curator: This intriguing object from around 1780, currently held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, is titled "No. 11." It hails from the Porcelain Axe (Porceleyne Bijl) Factory. Editor: It's captivating! The blue-and-white glaze creates such a tranquil, almost dreamy scene. Is this delftware? Curator: Precisely! It is a type of tin-glazed pottery that became popular in the Netherlands, closely related to Chinese porcelain. Look at the labor involved in the decoration itself. This isn't merely functional; it represents skilled craftwork and a social yearning for luxury goods, accessible through Delft's own manufacturing networks. Editor: Absolutely. It feels almost subversive. Taking this popular genre scene, a glimpse into daily life, and immortalizing it on something we eat from, transforming everyday use into a curated experience. These plates would have been prominently displayed within homes as testaments of taste and access to wealth, transforming domestic spaces into exhibitions. Curator: I agree! Moreover, notice the scene itself: a man and woman interacting on a shoreline. This plate's existence is part of a broader social context—of Dutch maritime power, trade, and the depiction of the everyday. Genre scenes experienced increased demands by consumers, reflecting a growing fascination with secular subject matter within fine and decorative arts Editor: Thinking about who owned it is so interesting, too. A piece like this elevates simple dining, connecting people to images and narratives of the sea in a symbolic and tangible way. Curator: Exactly. This factory produced accessible objects during an age when porcelain meant far more than a material object, and it held implications in the household setting, social value, taste, status and identity of a person or a family. Editor: What a fascinating glimpse into the social fabric and the everyday life, as captured through a single plate! Curator: Indeed. It makes you consider what mundane objects of today will reveal about our time centuries from now.