Allegory of love, hope and plenty

Johann Heinrich Balthasar Sang

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The seated woman pounding a goblet with a hammer refers to the inscription: Man soll die Endrung der, von unsres Freundschaft sagen, ertragen (You could say our friendship is finished if this fragile glass can bear the strokes of a hammer). On the reverse, three amorini stand on platforms holding, respectively, a bow, a horn-of-plenty and an anchor as allegories of love, plenty and hope.

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