Dish (one of a set)

Lewis Mettayer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

When Sir Paul Methuen embarked on his ambassadorial mission to Spain in 1714, he ordered a set of seventeen fruit dishes, of which these five survive (68.141.288–.292). They were used during the dessert service, when they were piled high with candied fruits, sweetmeats, and pastries and arranged in a perfectly symmetrical pattern on the table.

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