Beaker with Imperial Russian Arms

Vienna

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This beaker, from a set that Emperor Charles VI (r. 1711–40) probably gave to Czarina Anna Ivanovna (r. 1730–40), includes the arms of six major Russian cities in its armorial panels, a subtle salute to Russia’s rising military, commercial, and territorial power. Charles VI made lavish gifts of Du Paquier porcelain to the Russian court, probably as a result of the alliance between Russia and Austria during the War of the Polish Succession (1733–38).

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