Inkwell

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Both functional and highly decorative, bronzes d’ameublement such as wall-lights, firedogs, clocks and desk accessories played an important role in the luxurious French interior from the late seventeenth till the early nineteenth century. These objects followed the latest stylistic changes and well-known artists and sculptors were sometimes involved in their design. Indispensable for letter writers, a gilt-bronze inkstand would not only complement the mounts of the writing table on which it was placed but could be a piece of sculpture in its own right. Here, a male nude reclines on the scrolling base and leans against a lidded vase which forms the inkwell. With his left arm, he supports a large shell which rests on his shoulder. The figure’s twisting form and the curves of the base suggest a date of manufacture in the 1760’s.

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