Day 212 - Table

 September 11, 2020

     Gallery 553 is devoted to the Neoclassical period and contains furniture, silver, porcelains, and statuettes that generally date from 1750 to 1825 or so.  Most are French or German, but there are also a surprising (to me) number of objects made in Russia, including a pair of small vases carved from elephant and walrus ivory in Archangelsk! (I can see how they got the walrus tusks, but the elephant tusks?) In general the objects are, as one would expect, more restrained than those in the Baroque galleries,  although there's an enormous gilded bronze mantel clock with allegorical figures depicting the triumph of love over death that's as showy and ornate as just about anything I've seen in the past couple of weeks. There's also a small table made in Tula, Russia for the royal family that's astounding for the profusion of silver inlay work; the piece shines like a diamond. The table's fanciness made me giggle, although I heard a couple of other museum visitors comment on how beautiful they found it. Some of the objects are downright curious, including a 1795 French chair with a somewhat fan-shaped back and handrests in the form of sphinxes. A placard explains that the use of Egyptian motifs in French Neoclassical art likely was intended to associate the rule of Napoleon with that of the Roman Empire, which, of course, conquered Egypt; this chair, however, antedates Napoleon's first foray into Egypt.

     In this gallery,  I note for the first time objects reflecting European connections with America, or at least individual Americans. One is a tall pyramid-shaped clock made in Germany around 1785-1790 that uses a timekeeping mechanism invented by Benjamin Franklin. Another is a Houdon bust of Robert Fulton, who was 39 when he posed for the work and extremely handsome (or whose good looks were further enhanced by the sculptor).

    I was about to leave when an object I thought really extraordinary caught my eye - a round table, perhaps three feet in diameter, made in Germany around 1833. The table, including the clawed feet, is almost entirely of porcelain - making it a marvel of engineering in and of itself.  Actually, I don't much like the tripod base - again, too fancy for my taste. But the painted top, with its design consisting of five concentric rings,  is absolutely beautiful.  In the inmost ring,  Helios, the sun god, is shown on a chariot drawn by four spirited horses and surrounded by flying cherubs, all against a brilliant blue ground.  The next ring out,  painted gold to resemble gilded metal, shows the signs of the zodiac. It's the ring after that, though, that's most spectacular: a wreath of fruits and flowers painted in vivid but harmonious  tones of pink, purple, yellow, and orange,  with a blue ribbon winding through the assemblage. The fruits look absolutely edible! These fruits and flowers overlap the fourth ring of delicately painted leaves, while the fifth ring again presents the appearance of gilded metal. It's not a surprise to learn that the table was created in the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin - it's indeed an exquisite piece.