Root box

R.F.

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Such oblong boxes were often included in French silver toilet services to hold hand-made toothbrushes, which were formed from sections of fibrous or aromatic roots. The six-inch lengths of root were boiled, dried, and then sliced with a knife at the ends to make a brush. Household manuals describe the methods for preparing woody roots such as marshmallow, licorice, or lucerne to make the brushes, which were used with an abrasive powder to "prevent the accidents that arise from the collection of tartar or any other foulness about the [teeth]."

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