Cup (tasse Jasmin) 1810 - 1826

Editor: Here we have the "Cup (tasse Jasmin)," made of porcelain sometime between 1810 and 1826 by Jean-Baptiste Isabey. It's so detailed! What immediately strikes me is the portrait on its side – it's such a regal image on an everyday object. How do you interpret the significance of putting someone’s likeness on something like this? Curator: Ah, yes. Everyday? Perhaps, but consider the language of objects. Portraits have always held a certain power, a presence that transcends the physical. And here, placed upon a cup – a vessel – it’s an act of almost... enshrining. Porcelain itself, in this era, speaks of luxury, refinement, even aspiration. Whose image do you think this is? Does the medal signify anything? Editor: It certainly elevates the cup, like it's more than just something to drink from. I confess I am not familiar with the portrayed. His regal pose, and those stern eyes though... He reminds me of a military man. Curator: Precisely! The uniform, the medal - these are deliberate choices to convey status and power, very much embedded within the visual vernacular of the time. But, ponder on this; who chooses to drink from it? What conversations might happen around it, subtly shaped by his gaze? This cup is not merely a functional object but an ideological carrier. Even today, doesn't that visual language communicate? Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn’t thought about the "viewer" also being a participant. I guess, in a way, the owner drinks in the values represented by the portrait as much as they drink tea. Curator: Exactly. We consume images just as much as we consume the liquid within the vessel. And like that jasmine tea for which it was named, there’s a subtle aroma of power and memory infused in the ritual. A simple cup suddenly tells a far richer tale of its time.