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Object Timeline

-0001

2006

2007

  • We acquired this object.

2013

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2022

  • You found it!

Staircase Model (France)

This is a staircase model. It was manufactured by Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. It is dated early 19th century and we acquired it in 2007. Its medium is mahogany, ebony, pear or sycamore, oak; biscuit porcelain. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

This double revolution staircase is unmistakably a masterwork, confirmed by details such as the carefully turned, ebony balusters and the sophisticated veneering used to create an inlaid “carpet.” A hint of revolutionary politics is introduced through a juxtaposition of Sèvres biscuit porcelain busts of the French philosophers Voltaire (left) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (right).

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled An Enlightened Staircase.

This object was donated by Eugene V. Thaw. It is credited Gift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw.

  • Boullée Chair Model
  • painted wood, felt, cardboard.
  • Gift of David McCorkle and Ernest Hood.
  • 2010-12-23

Our curators have highlighted 9 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Model 3626 Vanity
  • walnut, white acer, glass, metal.
  • Gift of Jack R. Stokvis and Robert E. Stokvis.
  • 2011-52-1-a,b
  •
  • Vase (USA)
  • favrile glass.
  • Bequest of Joseph L. Morris.
  • 1966-55-1

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 68 x 48.3 x 41 cm (26 3/4 in. x 19 in. x 16 1/8 in.)

Cite this object as

Staircase Model (France); Manufactured by Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (France); mahogany, ebony, pear or sycamore, oak; biscuit porcelain; H x W x D: 68 x 48.3 x 41 cm (26 3/4 in. x 19 in. x 16 1/8 in.); Gift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw; 2007-45-12

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Made to Scale: Staircase Masterpieces—The Eugene & Clare Thaw Gift.

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18703477/ |title=Staircase Model (France) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=20 May 2022 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>