OBJECT REPORT I: FORMAL DESCRIPTION
This assignment asks you to describe one of the following pieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collections.
Access to the Met is currently limited, due to COVID-19 precautions and you may need an advance reservation to visit in person. If you are not in the New York area, or don’t feel comfortable visiting the Met in person, please use the Met’s excellent website, metmuseum.org, to “visit” these pieces online. The Met has excellent color photography of each of these pieces, and you can zoom in to examine construction and decorative details in high-resolution closeup.
Please choose ONE of the following pieces for your object report:
– Table/Stand, Islamic (Iran), accession #69.225, Gallery 453
– Sgabello, Italian Renaissance, accession #63.161.2, Gallery 503
Spend time with the object you have selected: look at it from far away and close up, consider it as a whole and study its details, and walk around to study its every angle, if possible. You should take detailed on-site notes to capture your observations, and you should also sketch and photograph the entire piece and its key details. All of these activities can help you understand and engage with the work. Your goal during your museum visit is to gather enough material to create a 400-500-word formal description with several relevant visuals (such as those photos, sketches, etc.). I strongly encourage you to use course vocabulary, as appropriate, in this description.
This short assignment should be drawn entirely from your own observations and the material covered in lectures and class readings. Do not use outside research, including the museum’s informational panels or online resources beyond the basic identifying information (date, medium, acc. number, location). Papers that incorporate outside research will be penalized accordingly.
Thought-starters:
Below are a few questions you might want to consider as you study the piece. I do not expect you to address all of these questions within the paper; this list is designed to help you as you begin your analysis:
What materials are used in this object? What colors and textures do you see? Were these materials readily
available, or difficult to procure?
Examine the piece as a 3-dimensional object: walk around it if possible, examine its top, back, and underside, and consider how it looks and functions from different angles. Is its back finished? Is its underside finished? What does this tell you about its design, construction, and use?
What is the general character of the form? Is it sculptural, or more flat? Is it composed of mostly straight lines, or curved?
What is the nature of the ornament? Is it “classical”, “organic”, or something else?
How was this piece constructed? How was this piece finished? What level of craftsmanship did it require? What technology or tools were used in its construction?
How would this object have been used, and by whom? Was this piece created for a specific setting, and if so, what was its function within that setting?
This object report is due no later than 11:59pm EST on the last day of Module 6, and must be submitted as a single document (Word or PDF) through the Canvas site within the Module 6 tab.
Essay Format & Style Notes:
Your essay must be typed and double-spaced, with a total length of 400-500 words. I expect clear, accurate writing, with good grammar and spelling. As a formal report, it should be written in the third person (without reference to “I”, “you”, or “me”), should avoid the use of contractions (e.g., “did not” rather than “didn’t”) and should maintain consistent, accurate verb tense usage (e.g., “Wegner used teak” rather than “Wegner uses teak”). If writing is a challenge for you, please review the NYSID Writing Center’s PPT in the Course Info & Support module, or contact

Alexis with questions.
Essay Content:
The purpose of this assignment is to help you learn to describe design and form. You should consider many aspects of the work you select and consider it as a three-dimensional object.
Begin your analysis by identifying the museum and the object you have chosen in your first sentence, and include the name of the piece, approximate construction date, and period and/or style.
The body of the paper should describe the piece formally, creating a picture of the piece in the mind’s eye. Imagine that you are writing for a reader who has never seen the object and you are describing it as carefully and accurately as possible with words. Try to incorporate vocabulary and terms used in course lectures or readings.
I recommend that you begin your description at the bottom of the piece, and work through the description by moving from bottom to top. Keep in mind that this is a straightforward description, not a critique. Avoid words that indicate your personal taste or opinions on the piece’s attractiveness, as this is not the goal of the assignment. You may find the piece “stunning” or “beautiful” or even “unattractive” but these reactions are not pertinent to this assignment.
BOOK: Harwood, Buie, Bridget May, Curt Sherman, Architecture and Interior Design: An Integrated History to the
Present (Prentice Hall, 2011 or 2012)