Wine urn

Boston & Sandwich Glass Company

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Because the mold for such an ambitious piece as this one would have been very costly, this urn was probably one of the most expensive pressed-glass articles of its time. It is decorated in a pattern called "magnet and grape" by collectors. The patent information on the spigot indicates that this piece was manufactured after 1869, although the pattern may date from around 1850. The design motif reflects Victorian delight in ornament appropriate to the object; here, a bunch of grapes for a wine urn.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art