Jardinière

Christopher Dresser

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The proliferation of European porcelain factories after about 1750, and the development of indigenous styles, led to a gradual decline in Asian influence. Interest in the Far East was dramatically revived in the second half of the nineteenth century with international exhibitions, the formation of new collections, and the travel to Japan of collectors, designers, and entrepreneurs who initiated a new cycle of interpretation. There is no known shape in Asian ceramics that correspond to this vessel. Various elements, such as the bamboo borders and the cloud formations within frames on the neck, are obviously derived from Chinese art. The theme of the "carp leaping in waves" symbolizes success in civil-service examinations-once the carp leaps over the "dragon gate," it becomes a dragon.

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