Ship (Nef)

Esias zur Linden

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Called nefs in Old French, ceremonial centerpieces in the form of ships were developed in medieval France to mark a lord’s place at the table. In the German-speaking areas of continental Europe, variations doubling as drinking vessels (known as Schiffspokale) experienced a revival in popularity in the early seventeenth century. They were often used as wedding gifts to symbolize the couple’s safe journey through life. Zur Linden joined the Nuremberg goldsmiths’ guild as a master in 1609 and was the leading maker of inventive nefs like this one with its wondrous, embossed sea creatures amid the waves.

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