On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Creamer and Sugar Bowl
Manufacturer Tiffany & Co.
Japanese netsuke in Moore’s collection and the writings of British design theorist Christopher Dresser informed the creation of this whimsical frog-shaped creamer and fugu (puffer fish) sugar bowl. Moore purchased twenty copies of Dresser’s 1876 Studies in Design for his staff. In a chapter titled "On the Treatment of the Grotesque," Dresser outlines how Japanese artists achieved humor in ornament by exaggerating and distorting nature. The entry in Tiffany’s manufacturing ledgers identifies the three-piece set composed of the creamer, the sugar bowl, and an octopus-shaped coffeepot as "Grotesque," a clear reference to Dresser’s writings. Charles Osborne, the talented designer who came to Tiffany to learn from and work with Moore, is credited with these and other "Grotesque" designs.
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