Chris Antemann upends not only the traditional form of the Portland Vase but also the famous Bouquet de la Dauphine made by Vincennes, the Royal French manufactory and precursor to Sèvres.  The Oregon-based ceramist, who has completed residencies at both Meissen and Sèvres, is a skillful disruptor of historical ceramic traditions. The title is a play on words as the Portland Vase plays a cameo role, superseded by the cameo reliefs refashioned as three-dimensional figurines. Referencing a surtout de table, an ornamental centerpiece displayed in a formal dining room, the forms and pastel colors of her work evoke the exuberance of the 18th-century Rococo style. However, Antemann’s tableau is very much part of the 21st century, critiquing and challenging contemporary gender politics.

“Inspired by Anna Pavord’s book, The Tulip: The Story of a Flower that has made Men Mad. In particular the tale of the broken tulip, which was the most sought after and cherished. These tragic beauties, afflicted by viral infections that alter pigments in their petals making them bloom in flames and feathers, wilt early and eventually die out. They were named Sempor Augustus from Latin ‘forever exalted’.

These images from Anna Pavord’s book The Tulip: The Story of a Flower that has made Men Mad, were used in my research for the Pair of Tulip Vases.”

—Chris Antemann, 2022

Inspired by one of the Vase Duplessis à Enfants 1753 Vincennes Porcelain Manufactory in the Frick Collection. Using the niche created in the original design as a space for 3-Dimensional figures to take over.

—Chris Antemann, 2022

Installation at Hillwood Estate & Gardens
“The Luxury of Clay: Porcelain Past and Present”

“Chris Antemann’s porcelain centerpiece, filled with eighteenth- century-style ceramic sweets, takes inspiration from the garden sculptures and eighteenth-century design of Hillwood’s French parterre. As with the dining room table display, here Antemann references eighteenth-century dining culture and the porcelain centerpieces commonly used as table decoration by European elites. Antemann integrates porcelain figures into her reconception of the French parterre. “I imagined what lives were like in the eighteenth century, what these figures would have been doing, what the collectors of these figures would have been doing,” she said. “My centerpiece is a seductive playground for the porcelain figure; they are not static on the base, but in the world, playing and enjoying the environment.” The tablewares from Hillwood’s collection on the breakfast room table include porcelain from a dessert service made by the Jacob Petit manufactory in France around 1835 (acc. no. 24.120), French glassware dating to the 1700s (acc. nos. 23.312–315), and porcelain and silver-gilt flatware made in Russia in the 1800s (acc. no. 25.479).“

–Dr. Rebecca Tilles, associate curator of 18th century French and Western European Fine and decorative arts, Hillwood Estate & Gardens

–Images courtesy of Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, photographed by Erik Kvalsvik

When art becomes epicurean, voracious, pie-eyed with the pleasures of the palate—inventing dishes, desserts, pieces montées or banquet scenes—sinking its teeth into an examination of our relationship with food (guilty, sensual, problematic)—we have Céramiques gourmandes, an exhibition cooked up by the Fondation Bernardaud, featuring fourteen international artists with a taste for ceramic: the crème de la crème!

“Chris Antemann’s elaborate porcelain centerpiece— depicting a host of partially clad revelers gathered around a table under an impressive porcelain temple—is a celebration of the eighteenth-century banqueting craze among European elites. Antemann takes inspiration from historical engravings and eighteenth-century Meissen centerpieces, including the Temple of Love, designed by Johann Joachim Kändler while the factory’s chief modeler. Antemann’s playful porcelain fantasy revives the materials and methods used in the eighteenth century to produce figurines while presenting a new narrative invoking contemporary morality and relationships in the age-old matters of romance and seduction. The wares from Hillwood’s collection on the dining room table include porcelain from an elaborate dessert service made by the Jacob Petit manufactory in France around 1835 (acc. no. 24.120), French glassware dating to the 1700s (acc. nos. 23.312–315), and flatware made by François-Dominique Naudin in Paris around 1819 (acc. nos. 12.289, 2021.1). The linen tablecloth was made by the French firm D. Porthault, which generously gifted it to Hillwood in 2020.”

–Dr. Rebecca Tilles, associate curator of 18th century French and Western European Fine and decorative arts, Hillwood Estate & Gardens

–Images courtesy of Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, photographed by Erik Kvalsvik & Ferrin Contemporary

An Occasion to Gather in Hillwood’s Dining Room was installed on February 15, 2022.

“The 10 years of collaboration with the highly skilled and talented artisans at MEISSEN gave me the courage and technical experience to complete the largest and most complex centerpiece which I have attempted thus far. I am grateful to Hillwood for offering their support and giving me the honor and privilege to make this personal dream and challenge come to fruition.

Channeling Marjorie, working with Rebecca drawing inspiration from Marjorie’s collection, interior decorating themes, furniture, upholstery choices/colors… that deep pink, the rug of roses, the gardens and the statues that she collected to inhabit them. All this swirling in the back of my mind while planning the most ambitious sculptures. Knowing that they would be placed in these spaces, in the breakfast room with the chandelier that belonged to Catherine the Great and Marjorie’s orchid collection… the hand-embroidered lily-of-the-valley in green on white napkins beside the Jacob Petite French dessert plates.”

-Chris Antemann