Dish 1695 - 1715

Editor: Here we have a porcelain dish, made between 1695 and 1715, likely by Nicolas Bonnart. The image on the dish depicts figures in what appears to be a musical setting, framed by decorative landscape panels. I'm struck by the contrast between the central figures and the bordering scenes. What do you make of the composition and overall design? Curator: Indeed. A formal analysis reveals an interesting interplay between figuration and decorative art. Note how the central scene's rounded figures contrast with the angular panels surrounding them. Observe the almost diagrammatic flatness and stark monochromatic contrast in the print, and the way space is compressed. Do you find the lines crisp, or blurry? Editor: I notice more blurriness than crispness. Curator: Exactly. The composition also seems to borrow, then manipulate, familiar compositional ideas, from the division of space in the surrounding decorative images and the subjecthood of the central musical scene, and how they both interact, one as a focal point and the others acting in a supportive, structural sense. It brings forth interesting dialogues between Rococo, Baroque, and the Chinoiserie that was wildly popular during this era. Does this inform any feelings toward the image? Editor: Yes, I hadn't thought about those elements so pointedly! That tension between distinct influences and visual presentation shapes the image with its inherent aesthetic. The figures appear stylized, and more artificial compared to the "naturalistic" depictions surrounding them, despite being so unrealistic. Curator: Precisely. We must, however, also acknowledge our viewpoint is influenced and mediated by seeing the artwork through reproduction, influencing our perspective in many critical and minute ways. Even just noting it as a dish allows for thoughts surrounding practicality, rather than being viewed purely as an image, divorcing it from its physical three-dimensional state. I found your perspective insightful as well. Editor: That’s a good point. Considering that dish-form in addition to how all of the aesthetic aspects communicate with the viewer really added new dimensions to it for me. Thank you!