Vase c. 1710

Curator: Well, hello there. Look at this collection; there's something almost dreamlike about these pieces. They're like delicate clouds of color solidified into earthenware. Editor: Dreamlike, yes, but perhaps more like a carefully constructed dream, wouldn’t you say? This is an assemblage of Baroque-style vases, crafted around 1710. The symmetry is striking and yet, at the same time, so regulated. Curator: I see what you mean, controlled in its expression, but within the control, there’s so much intricate detail. I’m drawn to the floral motifs that seem to cascade across the ceramic surfaces; they whisper of spring mornings. They feel really optimistic somehow, very life-affirming. Editor: Indeed, these vases are exemplary of Baroque decorative art, and were never conceived merely as containers. These vases functioned as dynastic displays and were made for elites with ties to global trade networks, because ceramics like these signalled global taste, wealth, and, above all, access. The ornamentation of nature disguises global access through botanical form. Curator: That shifts the picture! Suddenly, it's not just decorative. I think these kinds of domestic, handcrafted artworks can easily get a rep as fussy or even silly, but there's some coded colonial language at work. This puts a new perspective on it for me. Editor: Absolutely. And if we think about where these earthenwares might have sat within a Baroque interior, then we can begin to understand the dynamics of visibility. Consider the ways such precious things, and who got to see them, dictated societal parameters for recognition and who belongs and who is omitted. Curator: Thinking about the "who" gets to view makes it so different from considering simply what gets viewed. Okay, now it's taken on this sense of drama; a hushed room with a small elite admiring a table with these pieces; like witnesses at the play! I like that reframing a lot! Editor: That’s what is so crucial when understanding art. Context makes a piece legible. Once we're given that key, a silent vase starts to talk, doesn't it? Curator: It truly does. Thanks for this enlightening conversation about ceramics that really gets the flowers… or vases blooming! Editor: Yes, context lets us dig beneath decorative art to locate new forms of appreciation.