Appearances are deceptive — and the new exhibition in Tsarytsyno Museum-Reserve proves it right. For it explores the variety of artistic deception — nature-like tableware patterns. Such genre was extremely popular in oil painting, murals and even in porcelain sculpture. The main trendsetter in this respect was the Meissen porcelain manufacture. It produced porcelain tableware decorated with natural patterns of lemons, artichokes, cauliflowers, asparagus, grapes, strawberries and flowers. Sometimes the tableware itself represented different types of «naturalias»: bowls, oilcans and vases shaped like melons and watermelons, cabbages and asparagus beams.
Our intention was to avoid hackneyed artistic solutions, especially when it comes to porcelain exhibitions. Here we combine nature with manmade art; we emphasize artistic deceptions through the comparisons with nature. Thus famous Meissen porcelain neighbors flowers and plants from Tsaritryno arboretum. Such vicinity highlights how artistic expression can compete with the nature itself.