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Cupid

1898
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 768
Paris-based MacMonnies participated in a late nineteenth-century revival of interest in polychromy and mixed materials for sculpture. This unique object features an intricate play of diverse media: a fanciful carved ivory cupid with enameled silver wings surmounts an elaborate base incorporating colored stones, gold, bronze, and wood. MacMonnies drew on Greco-Roman subject matter, a central theme in his work in the 1880s and 1890s. Cupid was designed with the expert input of several French artists, including sculptor Victor Janvier and enameler Fernand Thesmar.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Cupid
  • Artist: Frederick William MacMonnies (American, New York 1863–1937 New York)
  • Date: 1898
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Ivory, lapis lazuli, marble, bloodstone, bronze, silver alloy, gold, translucent enamels, wood
  • Dimensions: 16 1/8 in. height (41 cm) x 8 3/8 in. width (21.3 cm.) x 8 1/4 in. depth (21 cm.)
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Heather and Brian McVeigh and David Schwartz Foundation Inc. Gifts, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.243a, b
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Boy and Duck
Frederick William MacMonnies (American, New York 1863–1937 New York)
1895–96, cast 1901
Young Faun with Heron
Frederick William MacMonnies (American, New York 1863–1937 New York)
1889–90, cast ca. 1902
La Jeunesse
Herbert Adams (American, West Concord, Vermont 1858–1945 New York)
ca. 1894; carved ca. 1899–1900
The Cup of Love
Elihu Vedder (American, New York 1836–1923 Rome)
1887
Diana
Frederick William MacMonnies (American, New York 1863–1937 New York)
1888–89; cast 1890

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