Juwelendozen, knoppen en zegels 1784 - 1796

Editor: So, here we have "Juwelendozen, knoppen en zegels," or "Jewel boxes, knobs, and seals," an engraving from sometime between 1784 and 1796, attributed to Jean Baptiste Fay. It reminds me a little of architectural blueprints, with its precise lines and orderly arrangement of shapes. What strikes you first about this image? Curator: You know, I find myself getting delightfully lost in the details. The craftsmanship in each design element! Imagine those knobs gracing a mahogany desk, or the seals pressed into warm wax, securing a secret missive. Each form feels pregnant with possibility. Doesn't it feel like looking into a miniaturized world of neoclassical aspirations? A little stage setting for an imagined play. Editor: I can see that! But how do we know it is neoclassical? Curator: Ah, excellent question! Observe the symmetry, the balanced proportions, the restrained ornamentation, and the revival of classical motifs and shapes like in ancient Greek architecture... Even a tiny vase mimics a Doric column. It whispers echoes of antiquity, re-imagined for the Enlightenment eye. Editor: Now that you point it out, I see how the shapes echoe one another throughout. Curator: Indeed. Perhaps Fay wasn’t simply presenting designs, but crafting visual poems about elegance and order, things so desired by Neoclassical artists. Editor: It makes me see it differently! Almost as if these mundane objects become vessels for broader ideals about beauty, proportion and balance. Curator: Exactly! Art isn’t just *what* we see but how it makes us see everything else, doesn't it?