Standing cup

Naphtäli Hart

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This stately ceremonial goblet was a gift to Frederica Sayers from her godmother for whom she was named, Princess Frederica of Prussia, wife of Prince Frederick Augustus, duke of York, the second son of King George II of Great Britain. Their coat of arms upon oval shields, with a prince's coronet above, face the viewer. The lion of England and the unicorn of Scotland support the royal arms. On the opposite side are engraved the initials F S, for Frederica Sayers, whose granddaughter gave the goblet to the Museum. The deep color of the gilding that covers the interior of the goblet is due to the presence of copper in the gold as an alloy. It was called "red gold" and was particularly popular in the nineteenth century. While the vase form of the goblet, with its calyx of convex flutes enclosing the lower half of the body, and the scoop-sided stem are Neoclassic features, the sharp curve of the bowl and the hexagonal base convey also a suggestion of the Gothic. Such dual references were not uncommon in silver design in the early years of the nineteenth century.

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