Pear-shaped bottle vase with powder blue, flower sprays and antiquities c. 1700 - 1724

Curator: Here we have an exquisite pear-shaped bottle vase, crafted around 1700-1724, now residing here at the Rijksmuseum. The piece is rendered in porcelain with a striking powder-blue glaze. Editor: Immediately, the contrast is striking. That deep blue is so intense, yet it's juxtaposed with this delicate, almost whimsical central motif. Visually, the colors play beautifully, offering a balanced asymmetry. Curator: The floral sprays and "antiquities" depicted aren't mere decorations. The making of porcelain, especially with such refined cobalt pigment, was a complex, international affair during that period. What does the material tell us about its context? The cobalt itself would have been imported to get that blue. Editor: Indeed, and that cobalt blue almost swallows the floral arrangements in places. If you observe closely, notice the detail along the rim with the repeated geometric patterns adding another visual texture. The narrow neck creates such elegant linearity; a fine addition to a classical vase. Curator: These vases reflect more than artistic skill; they are also indicative of intense material resource supply chains across continents and the skilled labor needed to produce them, where Chinese artisans would export to European markets keen for trade. We have to understand who consumed these goods. The rise of tea consumption for instance, would have increased demand. Editor: Perhaps, or the placement of design adds a focal point against a backdrop of powdered blue: what cultural messages is conveyed to viewers from composition or decoration on the ceramic canvas itself? Curator: Exactly. What story of cross-cultural exchange is being told when porcelain intersects with economic, material and cultural histories in an intimate vessel intended to furnish wealthy homes. Editor: Right. Focusing on the vase has helped me observe how complex histories and delicate craft meet and form one object. Curator: It becomes much more interesting thinking through both production processes and also form at once.