Coffer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In contrast to the severe black ebony exterior, the cabinet’s interior is more colorful and has several surprising components. The inside is embellished with alabaster plaques painted with monochrome landscapes. Within the central compartment is a five-sided recess with a tiled floor known as a perspectiefje (little perspective), a space used to place a small, treasured object that could be admired from all sides in the mirrors. Such coffers were used for the storage of valuables or jewelry.

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