Vaas met dolfijnen 1729 - 1737

This is Gabriel Huquier’s print, Vase with Dolphins. The image depicts a vase with handles shaped like dolphins, an object of luxury. Prints like this one circulated widely in 18th-century Europe. The inscription “avec privilege du Roy” indicates this print was made in France under the patronage of the King. Royal approval granted the artist exclusive rights to produce and sell the image, but it also meant the King had sanctioned the design. We might consider how the image of the vase conveys status through visual codes of wealth and taste. Notice the highly ornamented handles, as well as the classical form of the vase itself. Such details were meant to appeal to elite collectors, reinforcing social hierarchies through the consumption and display of refined objects. Historians can study prints like this one to understand the circulation of designs and the networks of patronage that supported artistic production in the 1700s.