Dish with a bouquet and flower sprays c. 1800 - 1849

This elegant porcelain dish, decorated with painted flowers, comes from the Kaiserliche Porzellanmanufaktur. Its central bouquet presents a rose as its focal point, a symbol steeped in history. The rose, often linked to Venus, goddess of love, carries connotations of beauty, passion, and, paradoxically, transience. We find the rose motif echoed through the ages, from ancient frescoes to Renaissance paintings. Consider Botticelli’s "Birth of Venus," where roses fall around the goddess, signifying divine love and beauty. This symbol migrates across time, finding its place here on a porcelain dish, transformed into a celebration of nature's delicate beauty. Yet, the ephemeral quality of the rose touches a deeper chord. Think of vanitas paintings, where wilting roses serve as a reminder of life's fleeting nature. It is through this visual language that our dish engages us, stirring a primal awareness of beauty's impermanence and the cyclical nature of life and art.