Plate decorated with harbor scene 1740

Editor: Here we have a porcelain plate with a harbor scene, made by Meissen. It's delicate, but the scene depicts laborers at work. What can we read into this juxtaposition? Curator: It's crucial to consider who would have owned this plate. The wealthy, no doubt. This harbor scene becomes a romanticized, detached view of the labor that sustained their lifestyle, doesn’t it? Editor: So, the plate normalizes a power dynamic? Curator: Exactly. It transforms the realities of maritime labor into a decorative motif, obscuring the social and economic disparities of the time. Editor: I hadn't considered the plate itself as a statement. Thanks! Curator: It’s a good reminder that even everyday objects can reflect and reinforce societal structures.