Candlestick (one of a pair) 1769 - 1770

Curator: Here we have a "Candlestick (one of a pair)" made around 1769-1770 by the Derby Porcelain Manufactory. It resides here at the Met. Editor: My initial thought is that it’s like a porcelain fever dream – a delicate, somewhat dizzying spectacle. The colours and textures almost overwhelm the senses. Curator: The piece embodies the Rococo style beautifully. Notice the elaborate asymmetry and the emphasis on ornamentation. Consider the incredible skill it would require to hand-form all of those individual blossoms, which seem ready to burst from their stems! Editor: I am trying to grasp the sheer volume of labour that went into this object! Each flower petal, precisely shaped from clay, demands time and talent. Did these craftspeople see themselves as artists or workers, toiling for the elite? Curator: I think that it's important not to think too rigidly about the division between art and craft then, especially within decorative objects designed to evoke feeling, transport one into nature… look how those peacocks sit amid the meticulously crafted flowers. They radiate this opulent sense of calm. I want that feeling. Editor: Though let's also remember the context of eighteenth-century ceramic production. Highly specialized labor processes! Mining the clay, mixing the slip, forming, firing… Even the cobalt for that rich peacock blue would be sourced globally and ground on-site. Every touch bears a history. Curator: Oh, I agree entirely that context matters! I'm still struck by the dreamy romanticism they managed to capture despite those complex production processes. This is pure fantasy frozen into porcelain; a moment of stillness wrought out of what, as you say, would have been an intense work process. Editor: Indeed, tracing its materiality and making allows us to contemplate who handled each part and what global flows facilitated such splendor. Curator: In the end, I see both. A crafted wonder made possible by artistry and the socioeconomic forces that formed its time. Editor: A synthesis achieved, through fire and hands, reminding us that every gilded bloom carries within it whispers of history.