Chessmen

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The set was made for use by Muslims, and there is no suggestion of what the pieces originally represented. The captial pieces are somewhat massive and, in decreasing measure, are king, queen, and rook (using Western nomenclature). The bishop and knight are more spindly, the bishop being the taller, and both exceeding the king in height, a peculiarity also to be seen in Kurdish sets.

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