Barrel-Shaped Jug with a Fox and a Rooster

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This thin-walled barrel-shaped jug is decorated with a jaunty cockerel on one side and a goose-stepping fox on the other. A looped and upright tail bring further whimsy to the fox. The Saintonge region of southwestern France enjoyed a long history of pottery making. Large numbers of these jugs were exported to London in association with the wine trade.

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