LONDON.- Sir John Soane’s Museum is currently presenting Visions in Porcelain: A Rake’s Progress, a set of eight newly made vases inspired by William Hogarth’s series, A Rakes Progress. Created by London-based, Dutch artist Bouke de Vries, the eight ceramic vases are showcased in the Foyle Space and mirror the eight paintings in Hogarth’s famous work, housed in the Soane Museum’s celebrated Picture Room.

Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress follows the swift demise of Tom Rakewell, the heir of a rich merchant who squanders his inherited wealth, leading to his ruin and ultimately, madness. Visions in Porcelain begins with an immaculate celadon vase, representing the promise of Hogarth’s youthful subject. De Vries proceeds to explore the painting’s inherent theme of degradation through the ever-darkening palate of increasingly fractured vases. The result is a succession of cracked, slumped and eventually imploding vessels whose compromised state can not be prevented, even through the artful employment of the artist’s increasingly drastic methods of restoration.

Throughout his career, de Vries has explored the themes of fragility and deconstructed beauty. Having trained as a restorer, he is known for working with broken historical pieces, expanding them to carefully ‘exploded’ assemblages.

A specially commissioned film accompanies the exhibition. This film features insights from the Soane’s curatorial team into the connections between de Vries’ work and Hogarth’s series, as well as an interview with the artist and independent curator and writer Kathleen Soriano.

Visions in Porcelain: A Rake’s Progress opens alongside Architects’ Houses, celebrating five London houses, all of which, like the Soane Museum, have been designed by the architects who lived – and in some cases still live – in them. The featured houses are designed by five major figures from the history of British Architecture.

Bouke de Vries said: “I first visited the Sir John Soane’s Museum almost 40 years ago and have long been inspired by the works of Hogarth. A Rake’s Progress is a captivating series and appeals to me due to its satirical and dark narrative. It has been a pleasure to reimagine this tale of woe in porcelain, displaying it only feet away from Hogarth’s original paintings.”

Bruce Boucher, Deborah Loeb Brice Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum, said “Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress has long been a focal point of the collection of Sir John Soane’s Museum. By presenting Hogarth’s narrative through his handsomely designed celadon vases, Bouke de Vries brings new perspectives and interpretation to this historic series. To see the work continue to inspire artists today goes to the heart of what John Soane envisaged for his collection.”

Bouke de Vries, A Rake’s Progress, 2021. A set of eight porcelain vases. Artist proof. On display at Bouke de Vries, Visions in Porcelain: A Rake’s Progress, Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, 7 June – 10 Sept 2023. Heights 52.5–59cm. Diameters 24.5–34cm

Bouke de Vries

Originally working in fashion before retraining as as a restorer, de Vries began creating his works of art in 2008. He has since gained a significant following and now has work in an impressive range of international public collections, including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Oslo, Norway and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA.

De Vries sees an inherent value in the discarded objects he reinvents, giving a new lease of life to a broad spectrum of ceramics otherwise destined to be thrown away. His pieces are often humorous, sometimes shocking, but always reinvent significant, yet damaged, historical materials, whilst adding unexpected twists to their ongoing narrative.

Bouke de Vries with Visions in Porcelain: A Rake’s Progress, 2021

Adrian Sassoon Gallery

Established in 1994, Adrian Sassoon is the UK’s leading gallery for international contemporary works of art. The gallery presents innovative and highly skilled artists working across a range of mediums including ceramics, metal, and glass. For almost 30 years Adrian Sassoon has strategically promoted artists through major solo shows both in the UK and internationally as well as exhibiting at the world’s most prestigious art fairs. Adrian Sassoon also works closely with museums and private collections to place works of art in their collections. Notable institutions who have purchased our artists’ works include: The British Museum, London; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet, Paris; Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, The Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan, amongst others.

Sir John Soane’s Museum, Visions in Porcelain: A Rake’s Progress, June 7th, 2023 - September 10th, 2023

William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress I: The Heir, 1734 © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

Our anti-hero, Tom Rakewell, inherits his fortune from his miserly father. A sense of promise and potential is signified by a perfect baluster vase (a traditional eighteenth-century form). The piece is finished in the brightest of jade-coloured, celadon glazes.

Bouke de Vries, A Rake’s Progress I, The Heir, 2021. Porcelain with gold decal lettering. Height 57cm.

William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress II: The Levée, 1734 © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

The profligacy begins as we see the appearance of the first crack. De Vries creates a small slash in the clay that opens further during the firing process.

Bouke de Vries, A Rake’s Progress II, The Levée, 2021. Porcelain with gold decal lettering. Height 57cm.

William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress III: The Orgy, 1734 © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

Hogarth depicts Rakewell indulging at an illicit party within a brothel. The gathering pace to his inevitable downfall is suggested by the spiralling gold-plated, barbed wire.

Bouke de Vries, Rake’s Progress III, The Orgy, 2021. Porcelain with gold-plated wire and gold decal lettering. Height 54.5cm.

William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress IV: The Arrest, 1734 © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

Rakewell’s life ‘explodes’ and the punctured vase is blown outwards, mirroring Rakewell’s undignified exit from the sedan carriage in the corresponding painting. At the leather-hard stage of creating this vessel, the clay was pushed outwards by hand, allowing for an area of weakness which in turn stimulates the dramatic collapse achieved during the firing process.

Bouke de Vries, A Rake’s Progress IV, The Arrest, 2021. Porcelain with gold decal lettering. Height 52.5cm.

William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress V: The Marriage, 1734 © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

To regain wealth and status, Rakewell marries a rich widow. Vase five has been restored with gold, using the traditional Japanese technique of kintsugi, where damage becomes a celebrated aspect in the history of the object. This restorative technique resumes the metaphor, demonstrating the act of repair to Rakewell’s life through a much needed, if morally questionable, input of funds.

Bouke de Vries, A Rake’s Progress V, The Marriage, 2021. Porcelain with kintsugi restoration and gold decal lettering. Height 57cm.

 William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress VI: The Gaming House, 1734 © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

Recklessly staking his newfound wealth in the gambling den; Rakewell’s life falls apart once more. Vase six fragments and explodes. De Vries has often used this technique in his work, capturing a frozen moment of destruction. The assorted shards have been mounted on a brass armature.

Bouke de Vries, A Rake’s Progress VI, The Gaming House, 2021. Porcelain fragments mounted on bronze armature with gold decal lettering. Height 59cm.

William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress VII: The Prison, 1734 © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

All is lost. Incarcerated in a debtors’ prison, Rakewell has sunk to an all-time low. A sense of imprisonment is achieved through the use of numerous metal staples to bind the broken vase together. Historically, this was a commonly used restoration technique, and these particular staples have been removed and collected by de Vries from important, yet fundamentally damaged ceramics that he has worked on as a ceramics restorer over the last thirty years.

Bouke de Vries, A Rake’s Progress VII, The Prison, 2021. Porcelain with gold-leafed rivets and gold decal lettering. Height 57cm.

William Hogarth, A Rake’s Progress VIII: The Madhouse, 1734 © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

In this final chapter, Rakewell’s life has entirely fallen apart. Condemned to the madhouse at Bedlam, he has become entertainment for paying visitors. The fragments are now chaotically contained within a glass vessel, made in the same form as the initial, perfect vase. This reminds the viewer of the Rake’s origins, tumultuous journey, and inevitable demise. The porcelain is glazed in near-black, concluding the spectrum of celadon shades employed across the vases to further strengthen the conceit of degradation.

Bouke de Vries, A Rake’s Progress VIII, The Madhouse, 2021. Glass following the original form of its contents; the remains of a porcelain vase, with gold decal lettering. Height 57cm.