Brisé fan with depiction of allegorical figure of Music

Francesco Bartolozzi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This prettily decorated fan exemplifies the more affordable, British-made response to exquisitely fine, and considerably more expensive, hand-carved ivory fans imported from China (such as The Met's fan, 65.80.13). In this example, the ivory has been drilled to achieve its lace-like patterning. The pictorial medallions, likewise, are rather less pricy: not painted on, but instead a colored engraving pasted in place.

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