Saucer 1740 - 1755

This saucer was made by the Meissen Manufactory, likely in the 18th century, using a refined clay called porcelain. To make it, skilled artisans mixed, shaped, fired, and decorated the clay in a complex sequence. Porcelain itself was prized as a luxury good, and its manufacture relied on global trade networks. The blue decorations were painted by hand with precise detail, depicting a pastoral scene, a fashionable subject at the time. The creation of such an object involved not just artistic skill, but a whole system of labor, from the mining of clay to the marketing of the final product. Looking closely, we can see the skill required to achieve such refined detail. This saucer represents not just an aesthetic achievement, but also the social and economic forces that shaped its production. Recognizing the role of materials and making allows us to expand our understanding of its place in the history of art and design.