Sugar bowl
Medium
Platinum, blue glass
Dimensions
5 1/4 × 7 in. (13.3 × 17.8 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Gold and Platinum
Culture
French, Paris
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. A.L. Garbat, Manya Garbat Starr and Julian A. Garbat, by exchange, and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1974
Accession Number
1974.164a–c
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the opulent world of late 18th-century French arts, Marc-Etienne Janety's *Sugar Bowl* of 1786 stands out as a pioneering masterpiece. Crafted in Paris during the waning years of the Ancien Régime, this vessel measures 5¼ × 7 inches and combines gleaming platinum with vibrant blue glass. Janety, a master goldsmith appointed as the official platinum worker to King Louis XVI, was at the forefront of metallurgical innovation. Platinum, newly introduced to Europe from South American mines, was notoriously difficult to refine and shape—far harder than gold—yet Janety perfected techniques to cast...