Dish (compotier carré)
late 18th century
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Width: 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
French, Sèvres
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1894
Accession Number
94.4.135
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of, this *Dish (compotier)* from the Sèvres Manactory exemplifies the pinnacle of late 18th-century French porcelain artistry. Produced around the 1770s–1790s at the royal factory in Sèvres, near Versailles, this square compotier—measuring 9¾ inches wide—was designed for serving fruits or confections in aristocratic dining settings. Crafted from soft-paste porcelain, delicate formula blending clay, glass frit, and white ash, it offered a creamy translucency prized for mimicking Chinese hard-paste wares while allow...
About the Artist
Sèvres Manufactory · 1740–present
The Sèvres Manufactory, one of Europe's premier porcelain producers, was established in 1740 as the Manufacture de Vincennes under the patronage of Queen Marie Leszczyńska, who sought to rival Meissen and Chantilly porcelains with French soft-paste innovations. Initially a private venture, it relocated to Sèvres in 1756 in a purpose-built facility designed by architect Laurent Lindet near Madame d...