Medici vase with a scene of the château at Saint-Cloud (one of a pair)

Sèvres Manufactory

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Napoleon I, who commissioned this vase as a gift for his brother, rides in a carriage in front of the royal residence at Saint-Cloud, where he was named emperor in 1804. The view offers a glimpse of the terraced gardens refined by André Le Notre that descent to the river Seine. This and the other vase in the pair, which depicts the emperor hunting in the hills nearby, are notable for their large scale, detailed gilding, and ground color that imitates tortoiseshell.

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