Dining room from Kirtlington Park

John Sanderson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kirtlington Park was built for Sir James Dashwood between 1742 and 1746 by William Smith (1705–1747) and John Sanderson (d. 1783). The house and its park, which was laid out by Lancelot "Capability" Brown (1718–1783), are situated about ten miles north of Oxford. The Museum's room (ca. 1748), originally a dining room, occupied the space behind the three windows on the first floor of the right wing, as shown in the aerial photograph. Its plaster decoration is derived from a design signed by John Sanderson. At the four sides of the ceiling are panels emblematic of the seasons. The overmantel painting of a landscape with figures is signed by John Wootton (ca. 1686–1765) and dated 1748. The marble chimneypiece can be attributed by John Cheere (d. 1787) or Sir Henry Cheere (1703–1781). The mahogany doors and shutters are equipped with their original gilt-bronze hardware. The oak floor was probably cut from trees felled on the estate. The newly painted color of the room approximates the original color, as documented by microscopic examination of the various layers of paint.

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