“Let them eat cake!” — What porcelain figures tell us about 18th century society
June 26, 2023In our current exhibition IT'S A PASSION! we show with our porcelain figures a variety of art historical references and thematic
The so-called white gold tells of a past time in which class differences were clearly visible.
The bucolic scenes (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukolische_Dichtung) in particular make it clear what an idealized idea the nobility had of rural life.
The upper class’s turn to a rural idyll that has nothing to do with the hard working life of the common people is reminiscent of the
bizarre fantasy world of Marie-Antoinette (1755 – 1793). The French queen had the so-called Hamlet
of the Queen an artificial village where she could escape farm etiquette and immerse herself in her idea of rural life.
An iconic image is the portrait by Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun (1755 – 1842) from 1783, which shows Marie-Antoinette in a simple muslin dress,
which later became known as chemise à la reine was popularized. This also illustrates the turn to nature, to the simple, to the (supposedly) peaceful.
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By Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun – Collection of Ludwig von Hessen and
Rhine, Wolfsgarten Castle in Hesse., Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=141783 |
The staging seems ridiculous today, but it should be viewed in the context of the time. Just think of the Lever de la reine, the morning wake-up ritual that Marie-Antoinette had to undergo. The following anecdote from one of Marie-Antoinette's maids shows the theatricality of court life:
"The Queen's Lever was carried out analogously to the King's Lever. The lady-in-waiting had the right to hand the Queen her shirt when she was dressing. The palace lady put on her petticoat and dress. But if a princess of the royal family happened to be there, she had the right to throw the shirt over the Queen. One time, the Queen had just been completely undressed by her ladies. Her lady-in-waiting held the shirt and had just presented it to the lady-in-waiting when the Duchess of Orléans entered. The lady-in-waiting gave the shirt back to the lady-in-waiting, who had just given it to the Duchess.
when the higher-ranking Countess of Provence came along. Now the shirt went back to the lady-in-waiting, and only from the hands of the Countess of Provence did the Queen finally receive it. She had to stand there naked the whole time, as God created her, and watch how the ladies over-complimented each other with their shirts." - Madame Campan (quoted from https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lever)
How far removed from reality the imagination of the upper classes in the 18th century is becomes clear when you take a closer look at the figures in our exhibition.
The faces of the depicted professional groups are all fine, delicate, pale and correspond to the ideal of beauty. Girl with Butter Churn holds the mallet so gracefully and elegantly that it can hardly be associated with the sweaty and strenuous work of churning butter.
The famous phrase “Let them eat cake” as a response to the population’s food shortages was wrongly attributed to Marie-Antoinette in
his mouth; nevertheless, he is a good symbol for the decadence of the nobility and also the tragic ignorance and lack of knowledge of the reality of life
of workers. The figures not only tell us stories about past professions, styles and porcelain processing, but are also
Witnesses of a society in which two groups faced each other were fascinating, but hardly touched each other.
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