Salt

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The seated female figure with her ankle on her knee may represent Venus (Aphrodite), born of the sea and thus a suitable adornment for a receptacle designed to hold salt, although the present example was meant solely for display. The goddess was frequently depicted in this pose, either bathing or removing a thorn from her foot. The other niches contain a hoofed, hairy figure, possibly a satyr, and a putto holding the arms of France.

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