Cup with cover and saucer

Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, St. Petersburg

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Following the "porcelain mania" at the other courts of Europe, Russia's first national porcelain factory—the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory–was established in Saint Petersburg in 1744 by the order of Empress Elizabeth I (r. 1741–61), daughter of Peter the Great. The Russian mining engineer Dmitrii Vinogradov (died 1758) developed working methods that ensured the perpetuity and further development of the factory. Even today his technical notes provide the basis for producing "white gold" at what is now the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory in Saint Petersburg. This cup and saucer come from the personal set of the empress and have an inventory number of Gatchina Palace, a Romanoff summer residence.

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