Male Dancing Dwarf
Unknown Artist
mid-18th century
Medium
Ivory: base: ivory and wood
Dimensions
Height: 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm); Height (base): 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm)
Classification
Sculpture-Miniature
Culture
German or Netherlandish
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Alfred and Victoria Harris, 1976
Accession Number
1976.422.2a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the whimsical world of 18th-century European decorative arts with *Male Dancing Dwarf*, a delightful miniature ivory sculpture from the mid-1700s, likely crafted by a German or Netherlandish artist Standing just 5¼ inches tall (13.3 cm) atop a 2¼-inch (5.7 cm) base of ivory and wood, tiny figure captures a lively dancer mid-movement, his form frozen in exuberant joy. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts—thanks to a 1976 gift from Alfred and Victoria Harris—it exemplifies the era's fascination with playful, intimate collectibl...