An exhibition curated by University of Toronto students
During the 2023 academic year at the University of Toronto, Dr. Karine Tsoumis instructed the fourth-year seminar Global to Local – Ceramics at the Gardiner Museum. In the context of this course, each student conducted a close study of an object from the Gardiner’s collection.
We were tasked with understanding its material nature, formal, and functional uses, and to reflect upon its social, political, economic, and cultural implications. This exhibition shares our collective work and the ceramic stories uncovered.
Dish with scene of Aeneas feasting (1536) by Francesco Xanto Avelli da RovigoGardiner Museum
Dish with scene of Aeneas feasting
By Sheena McKeever
This narrative-style dish (istoriato) reflects how Early Modern Italians engaged with their Classical past. Maiolica painter Xanto depicts an episode from Vergil’s Latin Epic poem the Aeneid (29-19 BCE).
The scene was inspired by a vignette from Marcantonio Raimondi’s Quos ego (1515-16), in which Trojan hero Aeneas – upon being cast ashore in Carthage – is welcomed to a lavish feast by Queen Dido.
Dish with scene of Aeneas feasting (1536) by Francesco Xanto Avelli da RovigoGardiner Museum
The servants bring tableware
that parallels 16th-century ceramic types used in banquets, including the ewer and basin brought for handwashing. Xanto’s representation of ubiquitous tableware visually connects Italy’s contemporary culture to its mythical foundations.
Plate with scenes from the Romance of the Western Chamber (c.1685)Gardiner Museum
Dish with scenes from Romance of the Western Chamber
By Kiran Li-Yang
Made in Jingdezhen, China,
this dish is decorated with illustrations from The Romance of the Western Chamber. Described as a comedy-drama, this Tang Dynasty romance features a love story between the daughter of a court official and a poor scholar who defy parental authority and the feudal marriage system.
Plate with scenes from the Romance of the Western Chamber (c.1685)Gardiner Museum
The story enjoyed great popularity in late 17th century
as the fashion for narrative representations asserted itself on domestic and export porcelain. This interest finds parallel in earlier ceramic traditions from other parts of the world, including 16th-century Italian maiolica known as istoriato (decorated with stories).
Puzzle jug with a portrait of Charles II
By Caillie Waters
Puzzle jug with Charles II (c.1660-1685) by Lambeth or Brislington, EnglandGardiner Museum
This drinking vessel is made of tin-glazed earthenware, a technique introduced to England by Dutch protestant refugees in the late 16th century.
In the 1600s, European potters imitated the blue and white colour scheme of Chinese porcelain, then a popular trade item. Featuring a portrait of Charles II, this item commemorates the King’s reign while speaking to the national pride of the owner.
Puzzle jugs brought entertainment to communal drinking space
which acted as centers of political discussions. Such vessels typically have a hollow rim with multiple spouts joined to the bottom through a hollow handle, requiring the drinker to cover various openings to suck the the liquid.
Dish with female portrait
By Rebecca Zifarelli
Featuring the portrait of a young woman in profile, this object is commonly described as a bella donna dish, a type popularized by maiolica workshops in Deruta. In 16th-century Italy, bella donna dishes played a role in courtship and marriage rituals, and were offered as gifts from a groom to his bride.
Dish with female portrait (c.1500-1530) by Deruta, ItalyGardiner Museum
The idealized images of feminine beauty and marital virtue they carried were thus intended for female viewers.
Such plates functioned as didactic tools for young brides, stimulating self-observation and providing a model of outward demeanor as did contemporary portraits in other media.
Service for tea and chocolate ("The Miners Service") (c.1750-1755) by Meissen Porcelain ManufactoryGardiner Museum
Service for tea and chocolate ("The Miners Service")
By Rylie Loft
Featuring silver miners at work, this service for tea and chocolate highlights the importance of silver mining as income for the king of Saxony, also the owner of the Meissen porcelain manufactory where the set was made. The idealized depictions obscure the reality of silver mining, a perilous occupation taking place underground.
The service suggests parallels between the theme of labour, as depicted on the vessels, and the consumption of the new hot beverages of tea and chocolate, introduced to Europe from China and the Americas respectively. In 18th-century Europe, their consumption was closely tied to the availability of sugar, which was cultivated in the Caribbean on colonial plantations where enslaved labour was exploited.
This virtual exhibition was curated by students enrolled in the seminar “Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Art and Material Culture: Global to Local – Ceramics at the Gardiner Museum,” taught by Dr. Karine Tsoumis (Senior Curator, Gardiner Museum) for the University of Toronto in the Winter term 2023. The exhibition was co-ordinated by Celina Lee, Rylie Loft, and Rebecca Zifarelli.
Authors of exhibition text (in order of appearance):
Celina Lee, Rylie Loft, and Rebecca Zifarelli (Introduction)
Sheena McKeever
Kiran Li-Yang
Caillie Waters
Rebecca Zifarelli
Rylie Loft
Mina Zhou
Brynn Evans
Celina Lee
YuYing Mao
Taylor Smith
