Sugar box
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Overall (confirmed): 3 5/8 x 7 1/8 x 4 3/4 in. (9.2 x 18.1 x 12.1 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
Austrian, Vienna
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Hans Syz Collection, Gift of Stephan B. Syz and John D. Syz, 1995
Accession Number
1995.268.298a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite sugar box from the Viennacelain Manufactory during the Claudius Innocentius duquier period (ca. 1720–25) exemplifies early 18th-century European in ceramics. Crafted from hard-paste porcelain—a durable, translucent material rivaling prized Chinese imports—the box measures 3⅝ × 7⅛ × 4¾ inches and served as a luxurious container for sugar, then a rare and costly commodity symbolizing wealth and refinement among Europe's aristocracy. Founded in 1718 by entrepreneur Claudius Innocentius du Pa, who acquired Meissen's secret formula, the Vienna factory marked Austria's entry into the...