While some artworks are more readily labeled as "decorative arts" and others as "sculpture," such objects can exchange and share features. Decorative objects intended for functional or ceremonial use can incorporate sculptural forms or assert a sculptural presence and, conversely, sculpture can perform decoratively, serving an ornamental program or purpose.

Showcased in this book are thirty-eight extraordinary works of decorative art, furniture, and sculpture, executed in the exuberant Baroque and Rococo styles during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, that embody such sculptural inventiveness. Drawn from the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Temple Newsam House, Leeds, England, these pieces were exhibited from October 2, 2008, through January 4, 2009, at the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, and from March 31, 2009, through July 5, 2009, at the J. Paul Getty Museum.