Two-handled storage jug (albarello) with crowned eagles

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the fifteenth century, Italian maiolica design was influenced by vases imported from Spain, which is apparent in this vase's winglike handles. Dramatic and impractical, they echo the spread wings of the crowned eagles painted on either side of the vessel, a motif also borrowed from Hispano-Moresque pottery. The style of ornament mimics patterns typically found on earthenware produced in Valencia.

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