This painting is a distillation of Appleby-Barr’s otherworldly and deeply allusive painterly universe. Without a painted figure, the objects themselves have taken centre stage, even taking on human characteristics. The painter chooses these emblematic objects for their associations, stories and textures, composing a narrative which is no way straightforward.

There is something almost supernatural, even occult, about this enigmatic grouping. The head of John Michael Rysbrack’s sculpture of van Dyck, crowned with greenery, is mounted on a broken Royal Crown Derby teacup, transforming it into a pedestal, or perhaps a torso. The cup rests in a differently patterned saucer, alongside vividly coloured cloves of garlic, a spherical bell on a chain and a trio of pearls. This eclectic arrangement of objects rests on a wooden block with a pronounced split, echoing the shape of the break in the porcelain teacup.

The circles formed by the rings in the wood are in sympathy with the circular forms of the saucer and teacup. The idea of forms engaging with each other is a recurring trope in Appleby-Barr’s work. He often chooses groupings of objects in this way, looking for relationships in form and texture.

The bell, resting on the Imari patterned saucer, carries a powerful suggestion of sound and movement. Arrested by the picture, it still calls to the senses.

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