John Derian's Piggy Plates
New York artist John Derian’s assortment of delicious-looking trompe-l'œil plates harkens again to naturalist pictures from the 18th century. Derian has uncovered and rescued a world of images, which might otherwise be misplaced. Little elves all around the world have been busy hand-crafting hundreds ofornamentsfor us. We've gotanimals,bees and bugs,birds,candles,classics,flora,meals,frogs and turtles,fruits and veggies,mushrooms and gnomes,objects,rockets and moons,sea life and nautical treasures,spooky associates, New York City,and sweets. It’s a group of 350 of Derian’s favorite images—18th- and 19th-century engravings, lithographs and ephemera he has used in his decoupage. John Derian’s obsession with printed matter in the end led him to decoupage, the artwork of slicing and pasting paper. Since 1989, he and a small studio of artisans in New York City have been creating glass plates, trays, bowls, and different ornamental home gadgets with imagery from his vast and ever