Tankard

Hans Nicolaus Müllner

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The oval reliefs on the side and the lid of this monumental tankard contain allegories of four continents: Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. Like the Four Elements (see the Hungarian charger with this motif on display nearby), these personifications were an important part of Baroque imagery. The volume of this large tankard is very unusual for Nuremberg silver, suggesting it was specially commissioned for ritual drinking ceremonies at the festivities of a corporation or civic club. Objects of this size appear more often in Scandinavian countries and along the Baltic coast.

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