Dish with IHS monogram, armillary sphere, and Portuguese royal arms

Dish with IHS monogram, armillary sphere, and Portuguese royal arms

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

While the doglike lions illustrate a Chinese theme, the Portuguese coat of arms and the armillary sphere (a type of celestial globe) are often found on works made for Portugal in the early sixteenth century. The letters "I.H.S.," a well-known Latin reference to Jesus Christ, would later be adopted by the Jesuits (Society of Jesus founded in 1534) as a symbol for their order.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dish with IHS monogram, armillary sphere, and Portuguese royal armsDish with IHS monogram, armillary sphere, and Portuguese royal armsDish with IHS monogram, armillary sphere, and Portuguese royal armsDish with IHS monogram, armillary sphere, and Portuguese royal armsDish with IHS monogram, armillary sphere, and Portuguese royal arms

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.