Miniature sugar bowl with cover
ca. 1720–30
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
Height: 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Silver-Miniature
Culture
British, London
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Joseph M. and Aimee Loeb May Collection, 1963
Accession Number
63.53.246a, b
Art Historical Context
This exquisite miniature sugar bowl with cover, crafted by London silversmith David Clayton 1720–30, exemplifies the pinnacle of British Georgian silverwork. Standing just 1 /2 inches (3.8 cm) tall, this tiny treasure from the European Sculpture and Decor Arts collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art was designed for a dollhouse, collector's cabinet, or as whimsical luxury item for affluent households. Silver, a hallmark of status in early 18th-century England, was meticulously hand-wrought by skilled artisans like Clayton, whose work reflects the era's rococo influences with elegant propo...
About the Artist
David Clayton · 1659–1719
David Clayton was an American artist active during the New Deal era who contributed to the Index of American Design, the federal government's sweeping effort to document American decorative arts and folk traditions through watercolor illustration. Organized under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project beginning in 1935, the Index employed artists in thirty-four states to render ev...