Flagon

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Although by the late fifteenth century, pewter vessels had come into sufficiently common usage as to be eschewed by the nobility who had once promoted them, they were by no means always relegated to strict utilitarian usage. This handsome flagon was used primarily for exhibition or ceremonial use. Although of a type related to the flagons of the Silesian school, especially in Breslau - several examples of which are extant - this particular flagon bears the town mark of Villach, located in present-day southern Austria. It has also been suggested that the piece was made in Lüneburg, in northern Germany, and subsequently marked in Villach. Whatever the place of origin, the high qualify of the engraving of the figures (derived in the style from the Master E.S.), the lack of wear, and particularly the nonutilitarian nature of the fantastic late Gothic braided handle, although designed for drinking, was ordinarily displayed on a cupboard.

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