Two wall sconces (Bras de cheminée)

Jean-Claude Duplessis

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the 1760s and 1770s in particular, the Sèvres factory consistently introduced products with new forms, new types of decoration, and even new functions. Until that time, sconces of high quality were made either of gilt bronze or gilt wood. It was a significant technical achievement to produce them in porcelain, and small firing cracks on these objects in areas where the porcelain curves testify to the difficulties involved. Perhaps the challenges in molding and firing porcelain sconces explain why so few of them were produced. About twenty pairs were made at Sèvres between 1761 and 1768, the period during which these remarkable objects would have been in fashion. Their pronounced scrolling forms incorporating leaves and berries and their sinuous profile epitomize high Rococo design in the decorative arts. They were clearly held in high esteem; Madame de Pompadour owned two pairs, and Louis XV acquired at least ten with a green ground in 1762.

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