Pharmacy bottle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vessels of this shape, with long, narrow necks, were designed to hold liquid preparations. In this example, the inscription shows that it was meant to contain water of the bugloss plant, once valued as an antivenom. Such labels first appeared on Italian pharmacy jars in the mid-1400s and became commonplace by the end of the century. The striking peacock-feather ornament helps trace the bottle’s manufacture to the town of Pesaro, where it was a favorite design.

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