European Porcelain: In The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The white translucent porcelain that traveled from China across the Arab world to Europe captivated the elites of the 16th and 17th centuries. The quest to surpass the Chinese led to experimentation at dozens of manufacturing sites across Europe. The goods were so important that the Duke of Würtemberg declared that owning a porcelain factory was necessary to the glory and dignity of a prince. Augustus the Strong of Saxony amassed a collection of 24,000 porcelain pieces that became the most prestigious in the Western world. The fever for collecting porcelain has continued and the fruits of this passion have descended to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, with the finest collection of European porcelain in America. This sumptuous volume is the first general survey of that collection. Designed to appeal to the general public without stinting on careful art historical analysis, the superb photographs of 90 objects or sets are accompanied by two to three pages each of thoughtful text. There are also essays about porcelain in Europe’s history and the collectors who donated the bulk of the Met collection.