Wine bottle holder

Christopher Dresser

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The transparent and efficient design of this wine bottle holder is typical of the work of Christopher Dresser (1834–1904), whose determination to utilize the latest industrial techniques places him in the forefront of modern industrial design. For several years, beginning about 1879, he created designs—including this one—for the Birmingham, England, firm of Hukin & Heath which produced them in electroplated metal in an effort to attract a wider public. The simple, utilitarian wine bottle holder represents Dresser's skill in making bold, yet graceful objects for the home.

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