{"product_id":"dinner-with-trimalchio","title":"Dinner with Trimalchio","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eDinner with Trimalchio\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1994\u003cbr\u003eBronze, polychrome patina\u003cbr\u003eEdition of 6\u003cbr\u003e67 × 81 × 86 cm\u003cbr\u003eCast by Ken Cook\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eDinner with Trimalchio\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e takes its title from Petronius’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eSatyricon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e, in which the enormously wealthy Trimalchio stages extravagant feasts where appearances are deliberately deceptive: what the guests see is not necessarily what they are about to eat.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe sculpture brings this idea of excess and illusion together with the tradition of seventeenth century Dutch still life. A lobster, oysters, a lemon with its long curling peel, a plate of olives and an artichoke are arranged among elaborate vessels: a giant cup, a slender wine flute and a goblet surmounted by a bird, recalling the ornate drinking vessels found in Dutch still life painting. The abundance is seductive, but it also belongs to the tradition of vanitas, in which luxury and plenty coexist with mortality and decay.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe great circular dish supporting the composition was inspired by a passage in Homer’s \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eIliad\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e. During the funeral games held in honour of Patroclus, Achilles offers as a prize a magnificent silver mixing bowl, carried across the sea by Phoenician traders and described as a masterpiece of Sidonian craftsmanship. This imagined ancient object became the foundation on which the feast is assembled.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWriting about the sculpture, David Matthews described \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eDinner with Trimalchio\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e as Fuller’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“most ambitious composition so far”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e, bringing together abundance with death and decay. Its many elements were modelled separately before being brought together as an unusually complex polychrome bronze. The work was cast by Ken Cook, with whom Fuller developed a close collaboration in which colour became integral to the sculpture. Fuller painted the plaster casts to indicate the individual patinas she wanted, and some of these elaborate still lifes required more than twenty moulds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eAfter being exhibited at Coventry Gallery, \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eDinner with Trimalchio\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e was later installed within a pond environment at Orion Sculpture Park in Yass, New South Wales. Set on rocks above the water and surrounded by planting, the circular table became part of the landscape, its objects reflected in the pond. Not every component proved hardy enough to remain permanently outdoors, however. Delicate elements, including the lemon and its curling peel, eventually had to be removed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe work has therefore had two quite different lives: first as an extravagant feast encountered within a gallery, and later as an improbable table set within a garden. In both settings, abundance carries its own contradiction. The objects celebrate sensual pleasure, craftsmanship and display, while the traditions from which they emerge remind us that such pleasures are temporary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cb style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eReferences\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eDavid Matthews, catalogue essay, \u003ci\u003eStephanie McDonald: Sculpture, \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eCoventry Gallery exhibition catalogue, 1994.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eKen Cook and Stephanie Fuller, \u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eKen Cook: Out of the Workshop\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e, Pangolin London, 2022.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003ePetronius, \u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eSatyricon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e, “The Dinner of Trimalchio.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eHomer, \u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Iliad\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e, Book 23, Funeral Games for Patroclus.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eCoventry Gallery, Sydney, exhibition documentation, 1994.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eOrion Sculpture Park \u0026amp; Gardens, Yass, New South Wales, installation documentation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stephanie Fuller Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41315518185544,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0277\/9312\/9577\/files\/IMG_6575.jpg?v=1786960152","url":"https:\/\/stephaniefullergallery.com\/products\/dinner-with-trimalchio","provider":"Stephanie Fuller Gallery","version":"1.0","type":"link"}