The Dancing Lesson
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
6 7/16 × 5 in. (16.4 × 12.7 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
German, Höchst
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number
64.101.291
Tags
Art Historical Context
**The Dancing Lesson**, crafted around 1760 by the Höchst Manufactory with modeling by Laurentius Russinger captures a delightful moment of 18th-century leisure in hard-paste porcelain. This figurine group, measuring just 6 7/16 × 5 inches, depicts women engaged in a dancing lesson, their graceful poses evoking the elegance of Rococo ballroom culture. Produced in Höchst, Germany—a key rival to Meissen in Europe's porcelain race—the piece exemplifies the factory's mastery of durable, translucent hard-paste porcelain, fired at high temperatures to mimic coveted Chinese imports. Russinger's skil...