Cup (gobelet litron)

Sèvres Manufactory

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fascination with the decorative and artistic qualities of hardstones (pietre dure) was a strong current in European court and aristocratic taste in the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries, and the Sèvres porcelain manufactory acknowledged this taste by occasionally using imitation hardstone surfaces to decorate its products. One of its most ambitious attempts at reproducing the appearance of hardstones can be seen in this cup and saucer (see also 09.129.11b) with matching tray, which simulate malachite and jasper on a porphyry ground. A less complex but equally elegant decoration is found on the cup and saucer painted to imitate lapis lazuli.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art