Jug

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The technique of glassblowing was practically forgotten after the retreat of the Romans, who had introduced it, but was resumed in the caliphate of Córdoba in Andalusia. Andalusian glass is characterized by a folksy quality and is always tinted tans to the presence of metal oxides, such as copper and iron, in the raw material. The abundant relief ornament takes the form of coxcomb crests, shells, berrylike prunts, pinched, denticulated bands, and ring handles. In the mid-sixteenth century, Venetian glassmakers brought the secrets of the refined Murano technique to Catalonia, where they founded several factories. Their most significant innovations were the production of a clear typed of glass and the use of manganese to aid in the discharge of impurities, but they introduced other Murano techniques as well, which account for the Venetian air displayed by many traditional Catalan vessels, with their delicate white striping, ribs, and gold prunts.

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