Dish 1731 - 1743

Curator: Here we have an intriguing “Dish” crafted between 1731 and 1743. The piece is attributed to Cornelis Pronk, a Dutch designer, though executed on Chinese porcelain, and it now resides at the Metropolitan Museum. Editor: Wow, the overall feeling is of serene composure. It’s surprisingly light, given the level of intricate detail. Curator: Pronk was known for his chinoiserie, which took European imagination of China and blended it with genuine elements of Chinese art and symbolism. Look at how the central image presents figures in a waterside landscape filled with birds and tall grasses, seemingly engaged in a formal greeting. This could reference elements like scholarly gatherings, but interpreted through a Dutch lens. Editor: It strikes me how that blend works...and also slightly doesn't. The figures have that certain aloofness from Chinese paintings, and then you see a funny detail like, are those ducks in the foreground? There’s almost something comically ordinary in their midst. It's got a humorous aspect, too, which must've appealed to European collectors. Curator: Exactly, these imported pieces weren't purely artistic but embodied complex trade relations. And each symbolic component bears a cultural load – birds as symbols of freedom and marital harmony or the stylized floral designs reflecting beauty and imperial prosperity. But it’s been adapted for European tastes. Notice also how the border is made up of geometric and floral cartouches, something familiar for a Dutch audience. Editor: It's like cultural collage in physical form. All those layers of meaning jostle one another – the serious with the whimsical. I see that little bird peeking out from the border and that one looks rather worried! What I find moving is just considering all the hands that touched it, all the voyages it undertook from firing it in China to being collected today. It speaks of an intense story! Curator: Precisely. What seems like simple tableware represents global networks, cultural dialogues, and evolving artistic tastes across centuries. The memory of cultural exchange lingers on every inch of its painted surface. Editor: So lovely to contemplate objects that serve so much meaning, so many journeys – compressed within something we could hold in our two hands.