Il Nome Dalla Rosa

The Name Of The Rose

2012

Gabriel Vach

plates with desappearing golden decoration
porcelain, hand painted, in-glaze decoration
diameter 27 cm

"Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus"

"The primordial rose abides only in its name; we hold names stripped"

A few years ago I bought a beautiful hand-painted golden plate in an antiques store. And since I think that beautiful things become even more beautiful as one uses them, I did so.

Now the golden decoration is gone except for one small dot hidden in a tiny crack of the glaze. I look at the plate and I cannot recall what the original decoration look like. The change - from golden to white - was so gradual that I didn't even notice it.

The decor Il Nome della Rosa has its origins in the practice of porcelain painters, who firstly put dotted "blueprint" of the future decoration using tracing paper and graphite and only then painted the decoration on the vase or plate.

In this case, the graphite is replaced with quality glaze paint. This serves not only as a guide for the painter, but stays as a reminder of the former decoration after the gold disappears.