Asians with Artichoke as Perfume Burner 1761 - 1771

This porcelain sculpture was crafted by the Frankenthal Porcelain Manufactory, featuring figures described as Asians holding an artichoke. The artichoke, centrally positioned, transcends its botanical reality, transforming into a vessel for perfume. The artichoke in European art is a complex symbol. Its layered structure may have been intended to convey meanings of hidden value. Yet its exotic nature also speaks to a fascination with the other. I am reminded of the Moresque grotesques of the Renaissance. Like them, these figures exoticize and essentialize foreign cultures. These motifs recur and transform across centuries. The urge to categorize and contain the unknown finds new expression. These symbols continue to evolve and reappear, reminding us of our deep-seated psychological need to find order in the chaos of the world.