Stay Safe - The Tulipiere Meryl Donoghue

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For KochxBos Gallery’s 15-year anniversary show ‘Wide Awake’, I wanted to create a piece that was quintessentially Dutch and also one that spoke specifically to this unprecedented moment in history that the whole world is collectively experiencing.

The vase
The Tulipiere that I have made follows in the delftware tradition of decoration and is a recognisably Dutch icon. Contrasting with the jovial frivolity of this vessel, its decoration echoes themes of this year’s global pandemic. One side shows a scene of bats frolicking in the air above a solitary pangolin and below that, a snake motif can be seen entwined on the foot of the vase.

The animals
These animals have all at one point been identified as potential links to the spread of coronavirus in humans. On the opposite side of the vase there are two eyes looking out above the motto ‘Stay Safe’, a phrase that has been used constantly this year as an 'au revoir' to phone conversations, emails and unexpected street encounters with friends. This scrolled motto on the vase stands in place of the masks that have become de facto items of our daily wardrobe.

The Eyes
Everywhere we look now there are eyes looking out above masked faces. An identifiable and gestural feature in our otherwise hidden identities. Lastly the vase displays two figures on the sides in place of traditional handles.

St. Edmunds with arrows
The first is the decapitated body of St. Edmund pierced with a strew of arrows. St. Edmund, also known as Edmund the Martyr, was king of East Anglia in Britain in 855. He was murdered by the Danes in 869 on the orders of Ivar the Boneless: beaten, shot with arrows and finally beheaded. Legends tells that his head was then thrown into the forest and found by a wolf, who alerted Edmunds followers by crying out to them. St. Edmund is the patron saint of pandemics and so along with the wolf who recovered his head is a particularly appropriate icon to adorn this pandemic Tulipiere.