Stove tile

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Between 1716 and 1727 Alexander Menshikov set up several faience workshops in Strelna on the outskirts of Saint Petersburg to produce tiles in the Dutch style to embellish the interiors of his palace—the city's first stone building—and other newly constructed residences. The Cyrillic inscription reads: "Do not stay in one place."

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