Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Height: 6 5/16 in. (16 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
German, Berlin
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Estate of James Hazen Hyde, 1959
Accession Number
59.208.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the delicate porcelain figurine *Asia*, crafted by the Royal Porcelain Manactory in Berlin during the innovative Wegely period (175–57). Standing just 6 5/16 inches tall, this hard-paste porcelain sculpture personifies the continent as an elegant female figure, embodying the Rococo era's love for graceful, allegorical forms. Produced at a time when Berlin was emerging as a rival to Meissen in porcelain artistry, it exemplifies the manufactory's early mastery under founder Wilhelm Kaspar Wegely. Hard-paste porcelain, fired at high temperatures from kaolin clay, marked a technical breakt...