Perfume case

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Whether or not the resemblance to a fish's iridescent scales and fine fins is intentional or fortuitous, this is a delightful example of a tiny perfume case, small enough to fit comfortably inside the palm of a hand. The three-dimensional patterning is achieved with buttonhole couching, worked in silver thread with purple, blue, pink and green silks.

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