Tobacco box

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An oval box. Its lid is similar to that of Number III, I. The coats of arms in the top row are, from left to right, those of the following provinces: Overijssel, Gelderland, Zeeland, Groningen en Ommelanden. The coats of arms of Utrecht, Holland, and Friesland make up the bottom row. A lion with sword bears the shield of Holland. Inscribed in a banderole below is: De seve/provensi (The seven/provinces). The underside contains three roundels. The central one shows a standing lion with sword and a bundle of arrows, the symbol of the United Provinces. The accompanying roundels each display reversible portraits. On the left a cardinal reverses to a jester; on the right the pope's portrait reverses to that of the devil. See the discussion in the text, above. With lined and corded rims as well as molded edges. The borders have leaf-scroll ornament and the sides chevron decoration. A similar box was sold at Sotheby's in London on April 25, 1985, lot 262. Another, in the collection of Het Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, Arnhem, is dated 1750 and inscribed with the English name "W. Emery."

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