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The Peep Show, or the Magic Lantern (La Curiosité ou La Lanterne Magique)

A work made of soft-paste unglazed porcelain (biscuit).
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of soft-paste unglazed porcelain (biscuit).

Date:

c. 1757

Artist:

Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
French, founded 1740
Modeled by Etienne-Maurice Falconet (French, 1716-1791)

About this artwork

Beginning in the mid-1750s, biscuit, or unglazed porcelain, replaced glazed porcelain in sculpture because fine details were sometimes obscured by glazes. In addition, the matte surface of biscuit pieces resembled marble, a medium favored in sculpture. Unglazed porcelain figures were often sold with dinner services, and, as such, they replaced fragile sugar figures, which had adorned dessert tables of the previous era.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Artist

Manufacture nationale de Sèvres (Manufacturer)

Title

The Peep Show, or the Magic Lantern (La Curiosité ou La Lanterne Magique)

Place

Sèvres (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1752–1762

Medium

Soft-paste unglazed porcelain (biscuit)

Dimensions

15.6 × 16.8 cm (6 1/8 × 6 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Andrew G. Bustin

Reference Number

1963.233

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/17052/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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