Plate 1832 - 1852

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to this striking ceramic plate by Charles Meigh, likely crafted between 1832 and 1852. It resides here at the Metropolitan Museum. Editor: It gives off a charmingly bucolic feel, doesn't it? The monochromatic scheme allows one to appreciate the layering, moving from intricate borders to the serene central image. Curator: Precisely. The scene depicts what appears to be a leisure gathering within a meticulously designed garden, or perhaps a public park. Such pastoral scenes were incredibly popular and served as powerful symbols of prosperity and leisurely life for those who used them in their homes. Editor: Observe how the repeating floral patterns in the outer band contrast with the pictorial depth created within the plate’s central field. The interplay between flatness and depth draws the eye inward, yet confines it with that somewhat aggressive ornamentation. Is that stoneware I detect? The density and sharp delineation of detail point toward that material quality. Curator: The plate is, in fact, earthenware, not stoneware. Earthenware was easily molded to meet demand. These kinds of scenes also echoed prevailing sentimental and Romantic themes in popular culture. This imagery provided access to an idealized lifestyle that was both appealing and easily reproducible in the decorative arts. Editor: So, almost like a “democratization of taste” happening on a dinner plate. Speaking from a purely compositional perspective, I like how the foregrounded figures provide scale to the scene behind. And the single mature tree in the center is quite prominent; note how its boughs mirror the curved geometry of the rim. Curator: The placement and the posture of the people, their groupings in relation to each other and the architectural structure beyond—these can also tell us about societal relationships, what was idealized and what was perhaps aspiration for buyers in a newly industrial age. Editor: An intriguing reflection upon the symbolic nature of commonplace things and how objects tell such engaging stories through image and form! Curator: Absolutely; indeed, thinking about what kinds of symbolic projections survive the centuries is an enriching undertaking when exploring pieces like this one.