Purse

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Attributed either French or English, this is a beautifully worked pouch, with four equally-sized sides, each sporting three eyelets through which a fine cord would once have been fed. Embroidered in colorful silks and sparkling metal drawn thread, it is only just over 4 inches' tall: a perfect size to nestle in its lucky owner's hand, drawstring drawn tight over candied nuts (Shakespeare's "kissing comfits"), or a pomander, or even a love token.

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