Spoon holder

Christopher Dresser

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In his long and varied career, Christopher Dresser was an ornamentalist, a lecturer in botany, and a designer of silver, ceramics, glass, furniture, and textile patterns. Like his contemporary William Morris (1834–1896), he believed that it took an artist, not just a craftsman, to create good design. However, unlike Morris, who shunned industrial production, Dresser had his designs manufactured by firms scattered between London and Glasgow. Although this spoon holder has not been traced to a particular design by Dresser, it is typical of the streamlined models produced for him by Hukin & Heath. Like much of Dresser's output for Hukin & Heath, as well as for Elkington's and James Dixon & Sons, other silversmithing and electroplating firms, the spoon holder (spoon warmer or egg coddler) reflects Dresser's penchant for Japanese metalwork. The simple form with applied legs and feet expresses an economy in manufacture, and the modest material adheres to Dresser's desire to produce well-designed, affordable objects. The straight ebony handle and "crow's feet," elements that Dresser frequently employed, reflect his dependence upon Japanese prototypes for aesthetic direction.

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