Koffiekan 1809 - 1814

This coffee pot was made by Koninklijke Porseleinfabriek Dommer & Co., but its date of origin is unknown. The idyllic scene painted on its side is a window into the social values of the time. Coffee drinking became popular in Europe in the 17th century, and by the 18th century coffee houses were important social and political spaces. The development of porcelain production in Europe allowed for a coffee service to become a marker of social status. The rural scene depicted on this pot reflects a romantic vision of the countryside then fashionable amongst urban elites. But it also papers over the realities of rural labor and poverty. To fully understand this object, we might research the history of the Dommer factory, and study the circulation of similar images in prints and paintings. The meaning of such an object is always contingent on its social and institutional context.