Tobacco box

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

An oblong box with shaped ends, its copper cartouche of a shape similar to that of the box. The cartouche on the lid portrays a couple conversing in a landscape. The bust of a second man, much larger in scale, appears in the foreground; this should be seen as the personification of the evil tongue, a gossiper, perhaps. (See also 57.108.2.) Inscribed below: Valsche tong is fel (An evil tongue is fierce). In the cartouche on the underside the couple is seated with a pitcher and glass in front of a house. A clergyman stands next to them with a crucifix in his hand. Inscribed below: Doet geen mens wel (Doesn't do anybody good). Rims are lined, edges molded. Leaf scrolls are found flanking the cartouches, on the borders, and on the front and ends of the side. The back side has geometrical ornament. This is one of the inscriptions that frequently occur on tobacco boxes, according to Van der Linden, "Les boîtes en cuivres," p. 203.

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