Samoyed Man

Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, St. Petersburg

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Imperial Porcelain Factory entered a period of prosperity under patronage of Catherine the Great. The factory mainly served the needs of the court and, at the order of the empress, created unique pieces to be given as gifts to foreign dignitaries, favorites, and courtiers. Beginning in 1779, the chief modeler of the Imperial Porcelain factory, Jean Dominique Rochette (1744–1809), extended the scope of the factory production by creating a series of figures in porcelain. Rachette's workshop was responsible for the first series of figures known as the People of Russia. The series was inspired by the book of the famous ethnographer and traveler Johann Gottlieb Georghi entitled A Description of All the Peoples Inhabiting the Russian State. Work on the series continued from 1780 until 1804.

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