Counter box

Vienna

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This box held circular gaming pieces known as counters. Its lavish decoration extends not only to the top and bottom but also to the underside of the lid and the inside of the base, ensuring the delight of discovery when the last counter was removed. The rich decoration is enhanced by the superb gold mounts, and the correspondence between the upper mount’s profile and the scale pattern painted below it reflects the care expended on the box’s production.

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