Soup plate 1900 - 1901

0:00

ceramic, porcelain

art-nouveau

ceramic

porcelain

ceramic

decorative-art

Dimensions: 1 1/2 x 10 in. (3.81 x 25.4 cm)

This soup plate was designed by Peter Behrens, likely in the early 20th century, using porcelain. Porcelain is made by firing clay at extremely high temperatures, a process that vitrifies the material, making it strong and non-porous. This soup plate shows how industrial processes can result in aesthetically compelling outcomes. The crisp lines and smooth surface are a direct result of mechanized production, allowing for precise replication of the design. The design itself, with its geometric pattern, reflects the era's interest in rationalized design. Behrens was influential in the Deutscher Werkbund, which aimed to unite art, industry, and craft. The decoration, applied through transfer printing, is indicative of mass production. It allowed for complex designs to be applied quickly and uniformly. Ultimately, this plate embodies the tensions of its time, seeking beauty in industry while also acknowledging the realities of labor and consumption. It invites us to consider the social and economic contexts that shape even our most utilitarian objects.

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minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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Behrens worked as a painter and illustrator before he joined the Darmstadt artists colony in Germany, where he designed a house and all its furnishings. He trained as a graphic designer, and that can be seen in his complex, concentric designs seen here in the dinnerware for German firm Bauscher. It must have seemed extremely modern at the turn of the century. Behrens's designs were promoted in department stores as part of the ideal of broadly available, good modernist design. He went on to be the first individual to practice industrial design in the modern sense, creating a graphic identity and products for Berlin electric firm AEG as early as 1907.