Bowl (part of a set) 19th century

This earthenware bowl was made by William Adams, an Englishman, in the 19th century. Observe the striking floral motifs, rendered in bold reds, greens, and blues, encircling the bowl, evoking an almost pagan sense of nature’s abundance. The most arresting of these is perhaps the stylized flower. Reminiscent of a rose, this flower has a lineage stretching back to ancient Persia and beyond, where roses symbolized love, beauty, and the mysteries of the divine. Across cultures, this symbol appears in myriad forms, evolving yet retaining its core associations. Consider how this echoes in Renaissance paintings, where roses adorn the Virgin Mary, or in Sufi poetry, where they represent the soul's longing for union with the divine. This bowl, seemingly a simple household object, is laden with layers of meaning, tapping into a collective memory that transcends time and place. Such symbols connect us to primal emotions and universal experiences of love, loss, and spiritual yearning, demonstrating the enduring power of visual language.