Conical vase with cover c. 1764

Editor: Here we have a set of five ceramic earthenware vases, titled "Conical vase with cover" made around 1764 by Jacobus Halder Adriaesensz. They’re just striking. What leaps out to me is the color scheme, a vibrant cobalt blue against the stark white of the earthenware. What visual aspects do you notice? Curator: The immediate thing that captures the eye is the dialogue between shape and decoration. Note how the varied forms, some ovular, others conical, provide different grounds for the identical blue motifs. Consider the repetition of the human figure in each panel, framed by foliage and rococo scrolls, echoed again by the figure atop each lid. It creates a certain rhythm across the ensemble. Editor: So, the decoration doesn’t simply adorn the surface; it actually interacts with and accentuates the form itself. Curator: Precisely. Observe, too, how the blue lines articulate the object's structure. They trace its curves, emphasize its angles, and direct the eye upward. Semiotically, the contrast creates a visual hierarchy, emphasizing certain features over others. Does this layering of form, image, and embellishment lead you to question function, use or context? Editor: It does, particularly the odd shape of the center vase. The emphasis seems more on ornamentation than practicality. But the scenes depicted... are they significant in some way? Curator: One could argue the depicted scene has a relation to the vase; yet, that does not provide or withhold value to its shape. It does inform a reading of class. We can analyze the intricate lattice, scroll, and floral ornamentation in combination with figures of leisure as symbolic, signifiers that reference aristocracy of the 18th century. The value of these vases relies not simply in ornamentation or functionality. Value is based on the aesthetic language of symbols within the vase as an artistic, visually striking accomplishment in the context of art history. What are your thoughts? Editor: This really changes how I see these vases. The details, previously just aesthetic choices, are symbolic communication. It makes the vases so much richer, each aspect working together. Thank you! Curator: Indeed, the piece compels us to decode how art can communicate beyond the visual representation itself, using structure and form.