Orphrey

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This orphrey band is an extraordinary example of complex and highly refined embroidery. The depiction of the faces of the roundel figures is lifelike and animated and there is whimsy in the winged creatures who appear to be blowing trumpets but actually are leaves emanating from the central plant motif. The enormous detail in curvilinear forms includes the swag of the draperies, sinuous curling vines and leaves and the curling tails of the winged figures. This panel was probably one of two panels on a cope. This piece has been cut, which accounts for the single orientation of the roundels and the slightly shorter length than would be needed to accommodate a cope. There is some indication that it was also used as a wall hanging, which would be evidence of its having been altered from its original use.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art