Teakettle and spirit lamp with stand

Paul de Lamerie

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

English merchants carried luxury goods of all kinds to the American colonies, where they set a fashionable standard that was emulated by local artisans. These three pieces - teakettle, basket and bowl - formed part of a larger service that was owned by a prosperous merchant in Philadelphia. David Franks, the son of a prominent Jewish family in New York, married Margaret Evans in 1744, and this service was likely purchased to mark their marriage. The silversmith, Paul de Lamerie, was the head of a flourishing workshop, and these rococo pieces were in the vanguard of London taste.

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