Saucer with a squirrel on grapevines c. 1730 - 1750

Curator: Welcome! Let’s turn our attention to this striking saucer made in Chantilly, dating roughly from 1730 to 1750. Its decoration features a delightful squirrel amidst grapevines. Editor: It's whimsical! The painted squirrel looks rather plump and self-satisfied, almost comical nestled within that colorful array of grapes and foliage. Curator: The vibrant imagery is typical of the Rococo style which was becoming fashionable at the time. What's interesting to me is the porcelain itself. Consider the intensive labor required to produce such refined ware—the sourcing of the kaolin clay, the skilled forming, the delicate painting... These were all highly valued commodities. Editor: Absolutely, and squirrels often represent abundance, provision, even thriftiness—qualities quite esteemed, though perhaps satirized here! The surrounding grapevine is, of course, pregnant with significance; from feasting to more esoteric allusions around transformation. There is certainly a story that could be told here! Curator: Precisely! While appreciating this piece as fine art, let’s not forget its place within networks of production and consumption, and how it signifies luxury and the display of status. We’re really seeing material and labor transformed into value. Editor: I find the interplay of symbolic weight so interesting. In these kinds of decorative pieces, one finds familiar, almost universal motifs like the grape—rich with symbolic value. I see multiple narratives merging, giving what might be deemed decorative status, more gravitas than initially thought. Curator: Well put. This little saucer allows us a glimpse into both the material realities of the 18th century and the imaginative world it inhabited. Editor: Indeed. An artwork such as this saucer lets us momentarily appreciate an intricate relationship between ourselves and our ancestors, with plenty left unsaid.