Vase or jar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This playful vessel takes an unusual form. The green fronds are impractical as handles, and the continuous decoration—unnecessary if the pot were intended for storing goods on a shelf—suggests that it was meant to be seen in the round. The original function of this piece therefore remains open to debate, but it was perhaps better suited to displaying cut flowers. Renaissance paintings show maiolica vessels used in this way.

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