Embroidered band sampler

Mary Pots

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

From the early 17th century into the early 18th century, long, narrow samplers such as this one were typical. Called "band samplers" because of the multiple bands of pattern, this type represents the transition from purely practical piece of fabric with patterns stitched for future reference, to something that is both decorative and functional.

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