Teapot (Théière chinoise)

Sèvres Manufactory

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This teapot is one of the more striking and original creations of the Sèvres manufactory from the first half of the nineteenth century, when the factory’s production was marked by constant innovation and a striving for novelty. The decoration reflects the ongoing popularity of chinoiserie, a term used to describe the European fascination with an imagined and exotic Asia. In the eighteenth century objects in the chinoiserie taste were usually decorated with fanciful depictions of life in Asia as Europeans envisioned it. In contrast, this teapot employs and reinterprets motifs perceived to be Asian in origin. The lotus leaves of the handle, the carved ivory grip at the top, the prominent butterfly, and even the yellow ground color are references to Chinese decorative arts, but the manner in which these elements are rendered and combined is entirely European. The Sèvres archives record that the teapot was made as an individual object rather than as part of a service and that is was sold to the queen of France, Marie-Amélie, who took possession of it in August 1837.

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