Schaal van messing met vijflobbig spiraalornament by Frans (I) Zwollo

c. 1925

Schaal van messing met vijflobbig spiraalornament

Frans (I) Zwollo's Profile Picture

Frans (I) Zwollo

1872 - 1945

Location

Rijksmuseum

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Curatorial notes

This brass bowl with its spiraling, five-lobed design was made by Frans Zwollo. There’s something so satisfying in the simplicity of this piece, right? It's like a meditation on form. The brass has this warm, inviting color, almost like honey, and the surface isn’t perfectly smooth. You can see the marks, the traces of the making process. That little swirl in the center—it's like the whole bowl is turning, a gentle vortex pulling you in. The way the edge is shaped into these soft curves makes me think of flower petals, or maybe the way dough folds when you're baking. There’s a sense of weight to it, a grounding presence. When I see this, I think of Lucie Rie’s pottery, where the material speaks just as loud as the form. Art is just an ongoing conversation, after all, and the best conversations always have room for more than one interpretation.