Dish 1730

Editor: Here we have a ceramic Dish, crafted in 1730 by Georg Friedrich Grebner. It’s currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I'm immediately struck by the linear details and the somewhat archaic depiction of these figures. What is your take on this piece? Curator: What’s most fascinating to me is the act of production itself. Ceramic work, particularly pieces like this intended for display rather than utilitarian use, often blurs the lines between craft and fine art. We have to consider the labour involved – the potter, the decorator, the firing process. This dish, a product of 18th-century material culture, begs the question of how accessible it would have been. Editor: That’s a very different way of looking at it! I was caught up in the iconography. I guess I hadn’t thought about who was making it and for whom. Curator: Exactly. How does its materiality inform its message? This isn’t a painting intended for a wealthy patron. The choice of ceramic is itself a statement, possibly aligning the depicted historical figures – perhaps theologians, given the setting – with a burgeoning middle class through mass production of printed imagery on a vessel for serving food. The text on the plate adds to the story: can you read it? Editor: Partially, it seems to involve a king and perhaps a religious figure... I wonder how common literacy was in 1730 when it was made? I guess if it wasn’t very high, most of the potential owners wouldn’t be able to read it. Curator: Precisely. Then we have to consider who could read, who could afford it, and where this was displayed: it speaks volumes about both production and consumption of that time. And what is this "text" conveying if not literacy for the viewer but something different entirely, maybe faith or political loyalty? Editor: I see what you mean. Thinking about this piece in terms of production, materials, and even literacy, has completely changed how I view it! Curator: Indeed. This exercise illustrates that art is about asking the right questions rather than necessarily seeking singular truths.