Lovers
ca. 1765
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
4 × 1 1/2 in. (10.2 × 3.8 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
British, Chelsea
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number
64.101.626a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created around 1765 at the Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory in Britain, this delicate soft-paste porcelain figurine captures a tender moment between lovers. Standing just four inches tall, the piece reflects the refined tastes of mid-eighteenth-century English society, where small-scale porcelain figures served as elegant accents in drawing rooms and cabinets. The inclusion of birds among the figures hints at themes of courtship and affection, common motifs in decorative arts of the period. Chelsea porcelain was celebrated for its luminous glaze and intricate modeling, techniques that allowed ar...
About the Artist
Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory · 1744–1784
**Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory** The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, Britain's pioneering porcelain enterprise, was founded around 1743 in Chelsea, London, by two Huguenot silversmiths: Nicholas Sprimont from Liège and Charles Gouyn. Sprimont, trained in Paris as a goldsmith before immigrating to England, brought his expertise in luxury metalwork to the venture, while Gouyn handled early sales th...