Ice cream cup (Tasse à glace) (part of a service)
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
confirmed: 2 5/8 × 2 7/8 × 2 3/8 in. (6.7 × 7.3 × 6 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
37.20.127
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate ice cream cup (T à glace), crafted by the renowned Sèvres Manuf in 1771, the pinnacle of 18th-century French porcelain artistry. Part of a larger service, this petite vessel—measuring just 2 5/8 × 2 7/8 × 2 3/8 inches—would have graced the tables of French aristocracy, holding luxurious frozen treats that were all the rage among the elite during the reign of Louis XV and early Louis XVI. Sèvres, the royal porcelain factory near Versailles, was celebrated for its soft-paste porcelain, a French innovation that produced finer, more translucent wares than earlier European attempts t...
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...