Visitors to the Harley Gallery in Nottinghamshire this summer will have the chance to play art authenticator.Beginning June 18, Harley will display “Made in China,” an installation from ceramicist Clare Twomey that challenges the viewer to distinguish the handmade from the mass manufactured. The show features 80 slender red vases, all 1.5 meters tall and decorated with gold floral patterns and Chinese characters. At first blush, the vases seem an identical set. But the discerning viewer, if she looks closely, will notice that one vase is not like the others.While all the vases were fabricated in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen, the one vase was not decorated there. This vase was returned to the United Kingdom, to be finished by the Royal Crown Derby Company, one of Britain’s oldest porcelain manufacturers. Unlike the vases decorated in China, which feature faux-gold decor, this vase is intricately adorned with 18-carat gold leaf.Royal Crown spent as long decorating its vase as the Jingdezhen studio spent casting, assembling, and decorating the 79 other vases.“Made in China” may be most easily understood as a critique of mass manufacturing and a culture that privileges speed and economy over artistry and quality.But there is more nuance to Twomey’s creation. Jorunn Veitberg, a professor at the University of Gothenburg who created the publication text for “Made in China,” argued that the show makes the point that both modern manufacturing methods and old-fashioned craftsmanship have worth.“Maybe they cannot replace each other, but rather complement one another?” Veitberg wrote. “Royal Crown Derby is not able to make vases like they can in China, but they are the best at gold decor.”“Made in China” runs June 18-August 14 at the Harley Gallery in Nottinghamshire.
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