Tureen with cover (part of a service)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is one of the more striking porcelains to emerge from the American trade with China. The four quadrants of the so-called Fitzhugh pattern of leaves and flowers, rendered in brilliant green enamels, serve to contrast with and accentuate the large spread eagle clutching an olive branch and a bundle of arrows in its talons. Such porcelains often feature the shield of the United States in the center of the eagle's body, yet here the shield encloses a monogram or initials—in this case an M—that would have been painted on site in Canton per instructions given by the purchaser.

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