Square vase

Ernest Chaplet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Since the 1980s, the Museum has made significant strides in the field of nineteenth- century porcelain (entries 74–78). These acquisitions, most of which were made by purchase, were spearheaded by Clare Le Corbeiller (1931–2003), one of the first curators in this country to systematically collect nineteenth- century ceramics that had been commonly regarded in recent history as merely derivative or even in bad taste. Increasing the nineteenth-century holdings remains a priority for the department, and the acquisition in 2013 of the Robert A. Ellison Jr. collection of European Art Pottery from 1880 to 1930 has transformed the Museum’s ceramic collection. Though primarily composed of stoneware—the preferred medium of art potters—the Ellison collection includes several significant works in porcelain, such as five monumental vases by Ernest Chaplet (1835–1909) (2013.477).

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