@Mooch-I think it is a fine balance of color and proportion.

Hmm, ok. I don't quite see it. Perhaps the proportions aren't quite symetrical. i.e. there is more of the white pot than the black space.

Mooch, balance doesn't have to be perfect symmetry. This is balance in two senses. There is a simple colour balance with dark and light, and there is a compositional balance with one pot in the front balanced by one in the back. Think of yin and yang. That is also very much about balance. It all depends on how you interpret balance. Personally, I think shots of things like a cat balancing on a pole are way too literal an interpretation for my taste, but they are equally valid. Balance is a huge part of photographic composition, but I think it's something you feel, not analyze mathematically.
DrDavidJones - not a problem, no need to apologize. It does a lot for me :)