Fecundity dish c. 1650 - 1660

This is a Fecundity dish of unknown date, made by an anonymous artist. The dish presents us with a classical scene rendered in vibrant color. At its heart is a reclining nude female figure, surrounded by playful putti, symbols of love and abundance harkening back to ancient Roman art. The image's true power lies in its connection to primordial ideas of fertility, an age-old motif stretching back through time. Consider the Venus of Willendorf, her exaggerated form embodying the life-giving force. Here, the artist updates this eternal image, placing it within a courtly, Renaissance context. The putti, derived from Cupid and Eros, are a visual echo, a reminder of desire and the generative impulse. Their presence invokes the past, reminding us of the cyclical nature of life and the persistence of certain images in our collective psyche, a testament to the enduring power of symbols to evoke profound emotional responses.