Coffeepot (part of a tea service)
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Height (with cover): 6 in. (15.2 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
Russian, St. Petersburg
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of John Rolston Peacock, 1969
Accession Number
69.162.2a, b
Art Historical Context
This elegant coffeepot, part of a refined tea service, hails from the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in St. Petersburg, Russia, crafted in 1834. Established under imperial patronage, the manufactory was a pinnacle of Russian craftsmanship during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I, producing luxury goods for the court and aristocracy. Standing just 6 inches (15.2 cm) tall with its cover, this piece embodies the sophistication of 19th-century European decorative arts, blending functionality with imperial prestige. Made of hard-paste porcelain—a high-fired, vitrified material prized for its strength, ...
About the Artist
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, St. Petersburg · 1744–present
The Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1744 by Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov under the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, marked Russia's entry into porcelain production as the third such enterprise in Europe after Meissen and Vienna. Vinogradov, a mining engineer educated in Saxony, developed the nation's first hard-paste porcelain formula using local materials, drawi...