Plate 1788

Curator: This delightful “Plate,” crafted by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres in 1788, is a superb example of late Rococo porcelain. Editor: It feels almost fragile. The decoration seems so delicately applied, a sparse scattering of blossoms over the creamy white ground. Curator: The distribution of those little Morning Glories is quite artful, in fact, don’t you think? They seem random, but I think their placement on the plain surface helps direct your attention outwards towards the more elaborately patterned border. Editor: Definitely, they seem to pull my eye towards that edge, but for me, I'm drawn to the tiny sprigs of the central design – their vibrant hues carry such a symbolic punch. Morning glories, after all, are so closely tied to the fleeting beauty of day, and the transience of time. It's a reminder of the present. Curator: Very good point! That juxtaposition certainly speaks to the socio-political climate in France in the years just before the Revolution. Louis XVI was desperately trying to promote and uphold traditional structures of power, but such ephemeral motifs suggested instability in the aristocracy's aesthetic sensibilities, even when luxury goods were at their peak of exquisite craftmanship. The patronage system by the monarchy supported workshops such as Sèvres, after all. Editor: Absolutely! And yellow symbolizes caution. Put it together and you see the royalists are aware, yet also in denial about, their looming problems. Curator: These pieces, beautiful as they are, represent an elite indulgence detached from the daily realities faced by much of the French population, it’s all very much an illusion, perhaps knowingly so by this stage. Editor: Perhaps, indeed! An illusion beautifully preserved. I'll always look at such pieces of art slightly differently now. Curator: Indeed. Visual pleasures with the tang of truth for us to mull over!