The Peep Show, or the Magic Lantern (La Curiosité ou La Lanterne Magique)
Medium
Soft-paste unglazed porcelain (biscuit)
Dimensions
15.6 × 16.8 cm (6 1/8 × 6 5/8 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
17052
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Beginning in the mid-1750s, biscuit, or unglazed porcelain, replaced glazed porcelain in sculpture because fine details were sometimes obscured by glazes. In addition, the matte surface of biscuit pieces resembled marble, a medium favored in sculpture. Unglazed porcelain figures were often sold with dinner services, and, as such, they replaced fragile sugar figures, which had adorned dessert tables of the previous era.
About the Artist
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres · 1763–1800
The Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, a premier French porcelain factory, flourished from 1763 to 1800 as the royal powerhouse of European ceramics, producing opulent soft- and hard-paste porcelain under the patronage of Louis XV and XVI. Originally founded in Vincennes in 1740 to rival Meissen and Chantilly, it relocated to Sèvres in 1756 and was fully acquired by the Crown in 1759, becoming the M...