Wineglass

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The heavy foot on this glass indicates that it was of the type used as a "firing glass," to be pounded on the table after a toast. The engraved inscription is an English version of the inscription (from an old song "The Freemasons' Health," 1740): "Then join hand in hand / T'each other firm stand / Let's be merry and put a bright face on. / What mortal can boast / So noble a toast / As a Free or an accepted Mason?"

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