Wine cistern

Lewis Mettayer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Wine cisterns were common in Europe, but do not come into general use in England until the late seventeenth century. The period of their greatest utilization was the eighteenth century. This wine cooler now bears the coat of arms of William Wyndham Grenville and his wife Anne Pitt, who were married in 1792. The original owner is unknown, although the two seahorses that form the prominent handles may refer to his or her coat of arms. In spite of its imposing size and precious material, this wine cistern probably would have been placed on the floor where, filled with water, it served to keep bottles of white wine cool until needed at table. Its form, curving in both the vertical and horizontal sections, presented a difficult shape for symmetrical ornamentation, here executed with exactitude and a high degree of refinement.

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