Potpourri vase

Karl Friedrich Schinkel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This vase embodies the elegant simplicity characteristic of Schinkel’s designs. The gilded metal mounts, cast in such a manner that they did not need to be chased by hand, reveal his interest in minimizing manufacture time and costs by designing prefabricated components that could be assembled rapidly. The Berlin-based company Werner & Mieth experimented with this type of matte milk glass, developed in Bohemia, which they called "Flußglas", and produced a line of objects—including this vase—which they showcased at the Berliner Akademie exhibition in 1812.

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