Table decoration in the form of a peacock

Table decoration in the form of a peacock

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The peacock stands with its head slightly tilted, mischievously observing his surroundings. The artist has capture in silver the temperament and characteristic posture of a mature male peacock, an extremely territorial bird. The object’s plain oval base, with its convex frame decorated with Baroque flowers and scrolled leaves, is in sharp contrast to the combination of a terrain plinth and stylized Neoclassical garlands on the stands of the pair of peacocks also in the museum's collection, acc. nos. 2010.110.64a, b and .65a, b. Literature Works of Art. Sale cat., Sotheby’s, London, December 8, 1983, p. 30, no. 91. Judit H. Kolba. Hungarian Silver: The Nicolas M. Salgo Collection. London, 1996, p. 122, no. 99. References Elemér Kőszeghy. Magyarországi ötvösjegyek a középkortól 1867-ig / Merkzeichen der Goldschmiede Ungarns vom Mittelalter bis 1867. Budapest, 1936, nos. 1255 [town mark], 1256 [town mark]. A similar peacock-form table decoration or drinking cup was offered by Bonhams, London, July 9, 2015, no. 117. [Wolfram Koeppe 2015]

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Table decoration in the form of a peacockTable decoration in the form of a peacockTable decoration in the form of a peacockTable decoration in the form of a peacockTable decoration in the form of a peacock

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.