Plate

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The arms are those of Ralph Bigland (d. 1784) and his two wives, Ann Wilkins (m. 1737) and Ann Weir. The inscription "DEUT 8th 7-8-9-10" refers to the passage in Deuteronomy beginning "For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land"; verse 8, "A land of wheat, and barley, and vines..", contains a punning allusion to Bigland's name as bigg is a Scottish and northern English variety of barley.

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