porcelain

The Frick Collection presented an exhibition devoted to Vincennes and Sévres porcelain of the second half of the eighteenth century. Focused on the small but rich group of French porcelains in The Frick Collection, which had never before been shown in its entirety, the exhibition included comparable examples from American and European public and private collections, original design drawings, a plaster model for a vase, prints used as subjects by porcelain painters, and four pieces of furniture mounted with Sévres plaques.

A major exhibition of 142 pieces, ranging from bowls to wine pots, dishes, jars, vases, and a figurine, the exhibition provided a survey of some of the finest porcelain produced in China during the so-called Transitional Period between 1620 and 1683. The pieces in the exhibition were selected from over 600 objects collected over several decades by retired British diplomat Sir Michael Butler.

In 1965 Childs Frick, son of Henry Clay Frick, left by bequest 220 pieces of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain that he and his wife had purchased over many years. They had chosen the pieces as birthday and Christmas presents and displayed them in thier home in Roslyn, Long Island. A selection later decorated the offices and upstairs staff rooms of the Collection. In the autumn of 1992, for the first time, a large number of pieces were placed on permanent display in the Reception Hall, in specially designed new cases.