Onderboezem met veertien vazen en theepotten c. 1680 - 1700

Curator: Right now, we’re looking at an engraving by Pieter Schenk called “Onderboezem met veertien vazen en theepotten,” made somewhere between 1680 and 1700. It’s a fireplace design, but the title… Well, it translates to “Bust with fourteen vases and teapots”. Quite specific, isn't it? Editor: My immediate feeling? A sense of serene opulence. The meticulous lines create such formality. It reminds me of powdered wigs and hushed drawing-room conversations! I can almost smell the beeswax and hear the faint harpsichord music. Does it give you that vibe too? Curator: It does indeed, with its very precise architectural design rendered in fine lines and baroque flourish. Remember that the fireplace was very much a central status symbol, a focal point of domestic life in that period, an announcement of wealth and refined taste to any visitors. Editor: I’m struck by how busy the surface is, and how orderly the geometric ornamentation manages to coexist. There's a classical bust placed so centrally, which somehow personalizes this imposing architecture, it looks alive atop what might be some stern fellow’s house! I would never imagine teapots decorating such an ornate surround… it feels bizarre! Curator: Well, teapots were coveted items themselves, signifiers of wealth. Think about the social rituals evolving around tea drinking then, and the East India Company trading routes – so this display on the mantelpiece elevates the fireplace into something more than just heating apparatus. Editor: Do you feel that tension, that push-pull between ostentatious display and real practical use, adds layers to our reading? Or even its visual impact, maybe the severity keeps things restrained… ever so slightly. Curator: I do. It reflects the societal anxieties around display. But also the role these designs played in the dissemination of fashionable ideas. Engravings such as this acted almost like catalogues, showing potential clients the kind of designs a printmaker, like Schenk, could deliver. Editor: So, almost interior design porn, centuries before Instagram? Showing off potential grandeur, that is. Curator: (laughing) Precisely! Now when I look at it through that lens, I am amazed at the ambition. A potent mix of self-promotion and social commentary contained in those tightly packed lines. Editor: What’s intriguing to me is the feeling of domestic theater, which this whole assemblage creates: a backdrop for lives lived both intimately and publicly. Thanks to Schenk, we're invited right inside.