Schotel behorend bij een theeservies met decoratie van trofeeën aan gestrikte linten before 1814

Curator: Here we have a porcelain saucer, dating from before 1814. It's part of a tea service created by the Koninklijke Porseleinfabriek Dommer & Co., currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My goodness, it's like a little puzzle rendered in porcelain! All those symbols... the tiny face... It feels like a secret society's teacup. What’s with the profusion of tools and ribbons? Curator: It's decorated with precisely rendered trophies tied with ribbons. The instruments symbolize various crafts and professions, representing accomplishments and mastery. The bow itself, when tied around objects like these, signifies binding, union, perhaps an agreement. Editor: So, a fancy way of saying "We make fine things with expertise and agree to uphold high standards," all before the first sip of tea, perhaps? It does have a certain air of fussy self-importance about it, though the delicacy of the porcelain softens it. I find the head coming out from under the bow an uncanny focal point... Curator: These neoclassical symbols would have been easily recognizable during the period, affirming status and taste. It’s interesting that you notice an eerie, dream-like quality since this aesthetic reflected a very Enlightenment faith in reason, order, and classification, yet it's morphed with time. Editor: Absolutely. To us, steeped in layers of history, they carry this sense of a forgotten visual vocabulary, now delightfully strange. And that pale head seems almost like a ghost of ambitions past, smiling from the center... I wonder if it felt as quaint back then? Curator: It's also intriguing to observe how tastes have shifted – what once signaled the pinnacle of elegance and sophistication may, generations later, inspire unexpected responses and interpretations, demonstrating culture as ever evolving. Editor: Exactly! Like a message in a bottle washing ashore with a faded, but compelling note from another era. That porcelain puzzle definitely sparks my imagination, it has a life that has continued through history!