Cup and Saucer
Medium
Porcelain
Dimensions
cup confirmed: 2 7/16 × 3 3/16 × 2 3/8 in. (6.2 × 8.1 × 6 cm) saucer confirmed: 1 1/8 × 5 5/16 × 5 5/16 in. (2.9 × 13.5 × 13.5 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
Austrian, Vienna
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, The Charles E. Sampson Memorial Fund and funds from various donors, 2019
Accession Number
2019.227.1, .2
Art Historical Context
This delicate porcelain cup and saucer, created in 1804 at Vienna’s Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, reflects the refined elegance of early nineteenth-century Austrian decorative arts. Matthias Niedermayer, working within this prestigious state-sponsored workshop, contributed to a tradition of fine ceramics that had flourished since the factory’s founding in 1718. As a product of imperial patronage, such pieces were prized for their technical precision and subtle sophistication, often intended for aristocratic or diplomatic use. Porcelain’s significance in European culture cannot be overstated...
About the Artist
Matthias Niedermayer|Imperial Porcelain Manufactory ( | ) · |1744 – |1864
|Vienna, 1744–1864