Footed Cup with handle: Scheuer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The shape of this drinking glass, with its forked handle, imitates that of more expensive cups of gold or silver. In metalwork, the protruding element was conceived as a thumb rest, allowing the drinker to steady the cup; the use of this same design for glass seems almost reckless. It is extraordinary that this fragile cup has survived.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art