Toilet set in original leather case
Fourteen identified German (Augsburg) goldsmiths and other German artisans; Japanese (Imari) porcelain maker
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
This ensemble unites an accomplished level of artistic design and quality of execution with an exalted provenance. Furthermore, it embodies the ultimate expression of princely splendor in precious metalwork. The showpiece was used as part of the daily levée, or ceremonial dressing, of a high-ranking aristocrat in eighteenth-century Europe. The ritual played an essential role in courtly etiquette; therefore, all accessories were required to reflect the owner's noble status. Customarily a husband gave such a dazzling set to his bride as a ""morning gift"" following the wedding night. In an age when marriage was an arranged, formal procedure of crucially political consequence, the toilet set was often assembled on very short notice. Augsburg specialized in the coordination and production of extensive, intricate silver table services and toilet sets involving highly specialized craftsmen. This refined ensemble belonged to the imperial counts Schenk von Stauffenberg at Schloss Jettingen in Swabia. One memorable and courageous member of the family was Claus von Stauffenberg, executed in 1944 after an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
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.