Watch case

Christophe Morliêre

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Many of the flowers depicted on the exterior of this watchcase were copied from models provided in a series of prints by Nicolas Cochin or Noël Cochin for use by goldsmiths, titled Livre nouveau de fleurs tres util pour l’art d’orfevrerie, et autres (Paris, 1645). This new form of painting on a pure white ground was developed by about 1630; its invention is generally ascribed to Jean I Toutin (1578–1644). In Blois, enamelers were under the special protections of Gaston, duc d’Orléans (1608–1660), but Paris, too, was an early and important center of production. An increasing number of sources from which these enamel painters took their designs have been identified, and it seems safe to say that most, if not all, were content to reproduce in miniature the work of other artists.

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