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Cupid

1898
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 768
Along with a number of French contemporaries, Paris-based MacMonnies participated in a late-nineteenth-century revival of interest in polychromy and mixed materials for sculpture. This unique multi-material 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 derived the composition from his earlier bronze statuette "Standing Cupid" (1895), drawing on Greco-Roman-inspired subject matter, a central theme in his oeuvre from the late 1880s through the 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, Bronze, American
Boy and Duck
Frederick William MacMonnies
1895–96, cast 1901
Young Faun with Heron, Frederick William MacMonnies American, Bronze, American
Young Faun with Heron
Frederick William MacMonnies
Jaboeuf et Rouard
1889–90, cast ca. 1902
La Jeunesse, Herbert Adams American, Applewood, marble, paste jewels, and twisted wire, American
La Jeunesse
Herbert Adams
ca. 1894; carved ca. 1899–1900
Diana, Frederick William MacMonnies American, Bronze, American
Diana
Frederick William MacMonnies
E. Gruet
1888–89; cast 1890
The Cup of Love, Elihu Vedder American, Oil on wood, American
The Cup of Love
Elihu Vedder
1887

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