Monumental vase

Ernest Chaplet

ca. 1890 · Porcelain · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The massive scale of this vase represents a technical feat, even for a master like Chaplet. Firing porcelain this large posed many challenges, as evidenced by the firing crack and sloped profile where the clay sagged in the kiln. While many of his contemporaries worked almost exclusively in stoneware, Chaplet focused on porcelain, a material that required a much higher firing temperature.

Artist

Ernest Chaplet

Date

ca. 1890

Medium

Porcelain

Culture

French, Choisy-le-Roi

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection, Purchase, Acquisitions Fund; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; and 2011 Benefit Fund, 2013