Saucer
ca. 1780–90
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Diameter: 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
French, Chantilly
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Hans Syz Collection, Gift of Stephan B. Syz and John D. Syz, 1995
Accession Number
1995.268.27
Art Historical Context
This delicate saucer, crafted around 1780–90 at the Chantilly porcelain factory in France, exemplifies the refined elegance of late-eighteenth-century European ceramics. Measuring just 4½ inches across, it was likely part of a tea or coffee service, reflecting the growing fashion for intimate domestic rituals among the French elite during the reign of Louis XVI. Produced in soft-paste porcelain—a material developed in Europe as an attempt to replicate prized Chinese imports—the piece highlights the technical ingenuity of French manufactories before the widespread use of true hard-paste porcela...