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Hot milk pot

ca. 1765–70
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 551
This coffeepot and its mate (1997.412.1) bear the maker's mark EGB, which recent research identifies as belonging to the goldsmith Ernst Gottlob Borns of Bautzen, a city east of Dresden in Saxony. For both pots Borns took the standard eighteenth-century waisted-barrel body form and enlivened it with a playful variety of surface modeling that emphasizes both the malleability and light-reflective qualities of the silver. The superb technique and the flamboyance of the design make these pieces exemplary documents of the distinctive Saxon interpretation of German Rococo. Remarkable details are the rocailles of flamelike appearance surrounding the base, thus teasingly evoking the flames of a burner, and the carved wooden handles echoing the embossed elongated C-scrolls of the silver bodies. Also characteristic is the tension between polished plain surface areas and articulating rocaille and floral relief elements. This style was developed and dominated by Dresden court craftsmen under the patronage of Friedrich August II, elector of Saxony and king of Poland (1696–1763), and his influential prime minister, Count Brühl. Related forms were also employed in products of the nearby Meissen porcelain factory.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hot milk pot
  • Maker: Ernst Gottlob Borns (ca. 1730–1782)
  • Date: ca. 1765–70
  • Culture: German, Bautzen (Saxony)
  • Medium: Silver, beechwood
  • Dimensions: Overall: 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Silver
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Emma A. Sheafer, by exchange, 1997
  • Object Number: 1997.412.2
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Coffeepot, Ernst Gottlob Borns, Silver, beechwood, German, Bautzen (Saxony)
Coffeepot
Ernst Gottlob Borns
ca. 1765–70
Nécessaire with watch, Casket: gold and mother-of-pearl, lined with dark-red velvet; Watch: brass and partly blued steel, German
Nécessaire with watch
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probably ca. 1745–50
Harlequin with jug, Meissen Manufactory German, Hard-paste porcelain decorated in polychrome enamels, gold, German, Meissen
Harlequin with jug
Meissen Manufactory
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ca. 1740
Columbine and Pantalone, Meissen Manufactory German, Hard-paste porcelain decorated in polychrome enamels, gold, German, Meissen
Columbine and Pantalone
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1736
Travelling watch clock, Johann Gottfried Kriedel German, Silver, brass, steel, German, Bautzen
Travelling watch clock
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