Snuffbox

Daniel Baudesson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Embellished with a group of itinerant musicians and floral ornament of mother-of-pearl and ivory in low relief, this gold box has a thumb piece set with diamonds, which added greatly to its value. Born in Metz, Daniel Baudesson is known to have worked in Berlin, where he made high-quality snuffboxes for Frederick the Great of Prussia (1712–1786).

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