Ewer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Named in reference to the ancient marble quarry on the Greek island of Parros, parian has higher proportion of feldspar than conventional porcelain, resulting in a vitrified biscuit body that resembles white statuary marble. Stylish and affordable, parian statuary and hollowware were extremely popular household ornaments in the mid-nineteenth century. This vessel was likely made by the United States Pottery Company, which exhibited parian to great acclaim at the 1853 Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art