The First Wall of the Porcelain Room, from: 'Fürstlicher Baumeister Oder: Architectura civilis' 1711

Curator: Ah, look at this. This engraving is titled "The First Wall of the Porcelain Room," part of Paul Decker the Elder’s "Fürstlicher Baumeister," published in 1711. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? Editor: It certainly is. My first thought is: opulent chaos! Every square inch is dripping with decoration. It feels less like a room, more like an exploded jewellery box. I see influences ranging from naturalistic, organic structures and to more theatrical baroque conventions in the presentation, it's wild! Curator: I see it, yes, chaotic and excessive to a modern eye. Decker aimed to capture, on paper, designs for the absolute highest echelons of society, and that meant excess. Look at the way he uses engraving to simulate textures, from the smooth porcelain implied in the title to the heavily ornamented frames. It's a technical tour-de-force. You know this was right around the time when European powers started becoming extremely fascinated with Porcelain production and its appropriation! Editor: Fascinating indeed, I think it gives the eye absolutely no space to breathe! Thinking about the making, all of these highly prized ceramics meant that laborers—anonymous hands, predominantly female I expect—were crucial to fulfilling aristocratic demand for display and storage wares that eventually made up the collection housed inside! The room must have been even crazier when this drawing came to life with even MORE decorative, tactile and colorful ceramics objects filling the shelves, truly impressive labor conditions. Curator: The contrast between Decker meticulously creating this precise plan and all of those “anonymous hands,” as you put it, firing all this material gives you quite a chill, isn’t it? He’s envisioning something splendid for the few at the direct expense of the many—even at this very first step of sketching and publishing the design plan. And consider the symbolic weight; the porcelain itself, so fragile yet so fiercely desired. The image as a blueprint to manifest imperial ego- Editor: Exactly! The means by which objects, materials, resources, and even labor move and converge together undergirds the image that you see! It allows us to truly begin assessing all that's present. It would be fascinating to truly experience it one day for sure. Curator: Absolutely. I have a newfound appreciation, especially considering the hidden world behind this decorative facade.