Chessmen (32)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Following a common practice in sets made for Muslim players, the king, queen, and rook are the most massive pieces, diminishing in size. The bishops and knights have the lower part of the same height as the rooks but are the tallest of the pieces. The pawns are half the height of the bishops. The translations of the names of the pieces are king, counselor, elephant, horse, chariot, and foot soldier (budaq, taken from the Arabic bidaq). The game thus retains its original meaning.

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