Sugar bowl (part of a service)
This coffee service (1988.287.1–.7) embodies the Art Nouveau style in ceramics. The designer chose the fennel plant to literally encase the functional wares, thereby integrating their utilitarian aspects with Art Nouveau's embrace of naturalistic forms. The gray-green enamel of the "fennel" portions was applied to unglazed porcelain, producing a matte texture similar to that of the plant itself, in contrast to the glossy, glazed white areas above.
Artwork Details
- Title: Sugar bowl (part of a service)
- Manufactory: Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)
- Designer: Léon Kann (French, active 1896–ca. 1915, active at Sèvres 1896–98 and 1900–1908)
- Date: 1904
- Culture: French, Sèvres
- Medium: Hard-paste porcelain
- Dimensions: Height: 4 3/16 in. (10.6 cm)
- Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain
- Credit Line: Gift of Diane R. Wolf, 1988
- Object Number: 1988.287.3a, b
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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