Lovers with a Birdcage

Johann Joachim Kändler

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

As was the case with many of its porcelain sculptures, Du Paquier’s Lovers with a Birdcage was inspired by a Meissen model. The modeler at Meissen, Johann Joachim Kaendler, is thought to have been inspired, in turn, by an engraving from the series A Rake’s Progress by William Hogarth (1697–1764). Du Paquier’s porcelain scuptures are charmingly sturdy rather than elegant; nevertheless, they were considered worthy of the finest decoration, as can be seen here in the gentleman’s gold brocade coat and matching breeches.

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