Chimneypiece

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The principal source not only of heat but also of light, the fireplace was one of the focal points in the eighteenth-century interior. Various materials could be used for the mantle but in the eighteenth-century France, marble was often selected such as Brèche d’Alep, a popular marble showing colored inclusions in brown, grey, red or black colors against a yellow ground. Consisting of two uprights in the shape of consoles with a voluted capital at the top, and a frieze carved with a rocaille shell in the center, this mantle reflects influence of the Rococo style. The bow-shaped shelf above was often used for the display of various objects such as a so-called garniture de cheminée, consisting of a set of vases of different shapes and sizes which would be beautifully reflected in the over mantel mirror behind.

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