Indo-European Decorative Arts

Provenance Research Project: Mixed-Heritage Teapot at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Under the mentorship of Dr. Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi, I conducted an independent provenance research project centered on an 18th-century teapot in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Accession No. 2006.229), a unique object that embodies complex layers of global artistic exchange. The teapot features a Chinese porcelain body from the Qianlong period and 19th-century British silver-gilt mounts, reflecting the object’s transformation through transcontinental trade and taste.

My research focused on unraveling the teapot’s layered provenance while examining the interplay between East Asian ceramic techniques, British silverwork traditions, and subtle yet discernible Mughal artistic influences in its floral motifs and ornamental sensibilities. These visual elements suggested the object’s connection to Indo-British aesthetics circulating through colonial trade routes and cosmopolitan collections in the 18th and 19th centuries.

With Dr. Gagliardi’s guidance, I explored museum records, historical trade data, and comparative objects to analyze how the teapot complicates conventional classifications of decorative arts. This project deepened my skills in provenance research, cross-cultural object analysis, and critical art historical interpretation, particularly regarding hybridity, colonial-era collecting, and museum ethics.