Gardener 1760 - 1770

Editor: Here we have "Gardener," a porcelain sculpture made around 1760-1770 by the Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory. He's pushing a wheelbarrow, and the whole piece has a sort of delicate, decorative feel. What stands out to you about this work? Curator: I'm drawn to consider how the material itself, porcelain, dictated the form and function here. The Chelsea factory was trying to mimic Meissen porcelain, but they were also very much catering to the tastes and consumer demands of the British upper class. Editor: Consumer demands? How so? Curator: Well, think about it. Porcelain was a luxury good. The figurine depicts a gardener, but not in a realistic, gritty way. Instead, he's idealized, almost a caricature. How does this tell us about the lives of those who purchased it? What purpose might it have served for the buyer? Editor: So, it’s less about the actual work of gardening and more about a fantasy of the pastoral life enjoyed by the wealthy. I guess owning a piece like this allowed them to display a connection to the land without actually getting their hands dirty. Curator: Precisely. And the labor that went into producing this figurine – from mining the clay to the intricate painting – is divorced from the image of the "gardener" himself. There's a whole chain of production and consumption embedded in this object. Editor: That’s fascinating. I hadn’t really considered all the unseen labor that contributes to a piece like this. Curator: Thinking about the material reality and social context opens up a whole new way to appreciate the "Gardener," beyond just its aesthetic qualities. Editor: Definitely! I'll never look at decorative art the same way again.