Experiment or failure?

This early wall plate from 1890 by Carl Frederik Liisberg (1860-1909) shows how this painter experimented with soft contours and blended colours. Bleeding of the painted image during the firing at high temperatures was normally something to be avoided, but in this very atmospheric early work it seems to have been Liisberg's intention. Although the plate was purchased for a low price in the sales – due to its blurred appearance – it is significant that it was not labelled as a second (a failed piece). If that were so, the potter’s mark with the three waves would have been scratched out, which is not the case.

The plate can therefore be regarded as an experiment. By blurring the image and blending the already tonal colour palette, Liisberg succeeded in creating a more dynamic and atmospheric representation. While the chicken fleeing the grey drizzle is still relatively sharp, the wet field of wheat sheaves through which it runs has blurred in the oven to create an Impressionist effect.