Editing Objet d'art (section)

==Objet de vertu==
[[File:WLA vanda Netsuke 4.jpg|thumb|''Objet d’art'': A ''[[netsuke]]'' ivory carving from Japan, {{circa|18th or 19th century}}, coloured with black ink]]
The ''objet de vertu'', wherein ''vertu'' suggests rich materials and a higher standard of refined manufacture and finish; the classification usually excludes objects made for realising a practical function. As works of art, ''objets de vertu'' reflect the rarified aesthetic and [[conspicuous consumption]] characteristic of an aristocratic court—of the late-medieval [[House of Valois-Burgundy|Burgundian dukes]], the [[Mughal emperors]], or Ming China—such as the [[Lycurgus Cup]], which is a [[cage cup]] made of [[Roman glass]]; the Byzantine agate "Rubens vase"; the Roman glass "[[Portland Vase]]", and onyx and chalcedony [[Cameo (carving)|cameo carvings]], whilst the pre–World War I production of ''objets d'art'' featured [[Fabergé egg]]s made of [[precious metal]]s and decorated with [[gemstone]]s.

A comparable term that appears in 18th- and 19th-century French sale catalogs,<ref>Such as the ''Catalogue raisonné des différens objets de curiosité dans les sciences et arts, qui composoient le cabinet de feu Mr..'' Paris, 1775; in 1916 A. Tuete edited the ''Inventaire des laques anciennes et des objets de curiosité de [[Marie Antoinette|Marie-Antoinette]]: confiés à [[Dominique Daguerre|Daguerre]] et Lignereux, marchands bijoutiers, le 10 octobre 1789''.</ref> though now less used, is '''''objets de curiosité''''', "objects of curiosity",<ref>Maurice Rheims' ''La vie étrange des objets'' (1959) is subtitled ''histoire de la curiosité''.</ref> now devolved into the less-valued ''curio''.  Elaborate late Renaissance display pieces in silver that incorporate organic elements such as [[ostrich eggs]], nuts of the [[coco de mer]] and sea-shells are grouped in a volume, published in 1991, as "The Curiousities" in the catalogues of the [[Waddesdon Bequest]] at the [[British Museum]].<ref>Tait, Hugh, ''A Catalogue of the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum'', several volumes, British Museum. Volumes: I, ''The Jewels'', 1986; II ''The Silver Plate'', 1988; III ''The Curiosities'', 1991.</ref>