Redemption of the First-Born Ceremony Plate

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The names of the owners in Hebrew [translated as “Katz”] appear above the date, translated to “in the year 1767.” The symbol of the two hands at the top shows that the owner was a descendent of the priestly class from the ancient Temple. The Hebrew verse around the plate's rim comes from a biblical verse in the Book of Isaiah 59:21. The drawing at the center depicts the biblical scene when Joab kills Absalom from 2 Samuel 18:9-14. The bull may be a reference to the zodiac sign for Taurus corresponding to the Hebrew month Iyar in which the owner of plate might have been born

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