The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Two-handled bowl (part of a set)

Art Object

Hidden Doors and Secret Drawers: Furniture by the Roentgens

Wolfram Koeppe, the Marina Kellen French Curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, discusses the intricate furniture designs created by Abraham and David Roentgen. The father-and-son team created innovative designs that were combined with intriguing mechanical devices to revolutionize traditional French and English furniture types.

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens, on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013.

The exhibition and catalogue are made possible by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock
(00:00:52)

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 11562 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 18147 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3152 views

Two-handled bowl (part of a set)

Date:: Porcelain 1573–1620; mount ca. 1585
Culture:: Chinese with British (London) mount
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain, silver gilt
Dimensions:: H: 5 in. (12.7 cm.) Diam: 9 in. (22.9 cm.) Diam. with handles: 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm.)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Rogers Fund, 1944
Accession Number:: 44.14.3

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 510

Description

The bright white paste, brilliant blues, and translucency of Chinese porcelain were prized in Europe, where imported examples were often given fine silver mounts to further enhance their value. These mounts are very finely worked by an unidentified silversmith. He was likely to have been trained abroad, possibly in Antwerp.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: Marks on silver: (on band above foot, stamped) three trefoils voided within a shaped shield (maker's mark) Marks on porcelain: (outside on bottom, within double circle, in underglaze blue): six characters of the Wan Li period
Provenance

William Cecil, Lord Burghley , Burghley, Northampton, England ; Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter ; William Alleyne Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Exeter ; [ Exeter sale, Christie's, London , June 7–8, 1888, lots 56-59; sold to Agnew ] ; William Agnew (in 1888) ; J. Pierpont Morgan ; J. P. Morgan Jr.
See also
What
Metal (59,483)

Clay (23,631)

Metalwork (14,681)

Silver (14,046)

Faience (11,688)

Porcelain (11,378)

Gilt (9,077)

Bowls (5,013)

Hard paste porcelain (2,916)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,634)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,228)
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