Ewer

Barthélemy Samson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fine workmanship and excellence in design were not confined to the work of Parisian goldsmiths; Toulouse was also a productive center of goldsmithing in eighteenth-century France. The artisans in the provinces did not merely copy those of Paris but were creative in their own right, with regard to both form and ornament. The goldsmiths of Toulouse were especially adept at interpreting Rococo ornament at its most exuberant. The zoomorphic dolphin handle is finely pierced to catch light and underscore the malleability of the precious metal.

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