Sugar bowl with cover (pot à sucre pestum) (part of a service)
ca. 1844–46
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Height: 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
French, Sèvres
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Miss Sylvia Such, 1951
Accession Number
51.187.3a, b
Art Historical Context
This delicate sugar bowl with cover known as a *pot à sucre pest*, hails from the renowned Sèvres Manuf in France, crafted around 1844–46. Standing just 5⅜ inches (13.7 cm) tall, it forms part a larger porcelain service, embodying theulent tableware favored by 19-century European elites. Produced the royal factory in Svres, near Paris, pieces were symbols of refinement, often commissioned for aristocratic households diplomatic gifts. Sèvres porcelain particularly this hard-paste variety, marked a technical triumph. Hard-paste porcelain—fired at high temperatures exceptional durability and tra...
About the Artist
Sèvres Manufactory · 1740–present
The Sèvres Manufactory, one of Europe's premier porcelain producers, was established in 1740 as the Manufacture de Vincennes under the patronage of Queen Marie Leszczyńska, who sought to rival Meissen and Chantilly porcelains with French soft-paste innovations. Initially a private venture, it relocated to Sèvres in 1756 in a purpose-built facility designed by architect Laurent Lindet near Madame d...