Hot water urn

Louisa Courtauld

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tea was brewed in small silver or ceramic teapots. As it cooled or became bitter, a hostess could refresh the pot with hot water poured from a kettle or urn. While a kettle was kept hot with a lamp burning mineral spirits, urns had the advantage of a simple interior compartment that held a heated iron rod or block. The design of this vase-shaped vessel reflects an awareness of Classical forms, but the scrolling ornament is firmly rooted in the rococo.

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