Butter dish with cover and stand
Unknown Artist
ca. 1750
Medium
Faience (tin-glazed earthenware)
Dimensions
Overall (.3a, b, dish with cover): 3 × 4 in. (7.6 × 10.2 cm); Width (.4, stand): 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
Dutch, Delft
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number
64.101.386a, b, .387
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming butter dish with cover and stand, crafted around 1750 in Delft, Netherlands, exemplifies the refined artistry of Dutch faience production. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture and Decorative Arts department, this piece—measuring a compact 3 × 4 inches for the dish and a wider 6¼-inch stand—was a practical yet luxurious tableware item for affluent 18th-century households. potters, inspired by Chinese porcelain, created these tin-glazed earthenware objects to bring exotic elegance to everyday use, like serving fresh butter at meals. The medium of faience, ...