Sight (one of a pair) 1750 - 1760

This porcelain figure of Sight was crafted by the Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory around 1760. Note the striking juxtaposition of textures and forms, from the smoothness of the man’s skin to the feathery details of the falcon. The composition, a spiral of soft pastel hues offset by areas of glossy color, leads your eye around the sculpture. We see a partially draped figure sitting amongst clouds with a falcon. His gaze follows the falcon's. The figure, emblematic of sight, is rendered with meticulous detail, each plane of the body catching light to accentuate its three-dimensionality. The drapery around the figure adds a sense of baroque dynamism, a stark contrast with the more static elements of the porcelain medium. The visual interplay here isn’t merely decorative; it provokes questions about perception, about how we engage with, and interpret the world around us. The figure is both an allegory of perception and an object to be perceived. This duality, so central to the artwork, functions as a metaphor for the complex relationship between the observer and the observed.