Interieur met een bureau, stoelen en sierborden c. 1890 - 1900

Curator: The image before us, "Interieur met een bureau, stoelen en sierborden" was created between 1890 and 1900 by Johann Pörtzgen and preserved through photography. Editor: The sepia tone and the composition create a very peaceful atmosphere, even though it captures quite a cluttered interior. The contrast seems deliberately flattened, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed. Genre photography, particularly during that period, often served as a medium to reinforce or, subtly challenge perceptions about the rising middle-class taste and their collecting practices, thus defining bourgeois identities and aspirations. The Rijksmuseum, owning the photo now, certainly adds to the historical conversation! Editor: Yes, and that reminds me, look at the distribution of elements, the "placements" of these repeated, near identical ornamental plates give the entire room almost a feeling of "being exhibited"—perhaps to show wealth. Curator: Precisely! Placement of porcelain in domestic interiors signals its economic and cultural value. But let's consider what isn’t overtly presented: what narratives of labor or even colonialism might this photograph silently perpetuate or ignore, within that room. Editor: You make a point. Going back to formalism, the image itself has a distinct geometrical architecture - squares on squares, both the paneling, the picture frames and plates…it seems intended to make a grand architectural statement about living amongst one’s possessions. Curator: The very act of photographic reproduction flattens the multi-dimensional existence of these "possessions". How can a 2D plane reflect social texture of fin de siecle? Interesting tension, is it not? Editor: Absolutely. A lot to consider and certainly much more here than just a simple domestic space! Curator: Yes, each level opens another perspective.