Ice cream cup (tasse à glace) (one of thirty-one) (part of a service)
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
2 1/2 × 2 7/8 in. (6.4 × 7.3 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
French, Sèvres
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Emma T. Gary, 1934
Accession Number
37.20.49
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate ice cream cup, or *tasse à glace*, in 1780 by the Sèvres Manuf with gilding by Jean Chauvaux, exemplifies pinnacle of French porcelain artistry during the late Louis XVI period. Produced at the royal factory in Sèvres, near Paris, it formed part of an opulent service of thirty-one cups, designed for the elite's lavish desserts. At just 2½ × 2⅞ inches, its petite scale highlights the technical mastery required for such intricate luxury goods, reserved for aristocratic tables amid the Enlightenment's embrace of refined neoclassicism. Made from soft-paste porcelain—a Sèvres special...
About the Artist
Sèvres Manufactory|Jean Chauvaux · 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...