Tobacco box

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The box is oval; the lid shows an interior scene framed by brick walls. Two seated women, each with a glass, raise a toast to each other’s health. Inscribed below: Een glas bier is ons plasier (A glass of beer is our pleasure). The underside depicts an almost identical scene with women similarly posed. Details of the clothing differs somewhat. Inscribed below: Bij de wijn kan men vrolijck sijn (With wine one can be merry). This box was most likely made for a female smoker. With lined rims, molded edges, and leaf-scroll borders. The sides have chevron decoration.

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