Chasuble

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Of modest design and execution, this is part of a larger set of vestments (38.86.1-.5) likely made and decorated in China for export to Europe. The set is dominated by the sage green palette of the light silk ground material. The floral motifs are embroidered with colorful- but very thin- silk threads, resulting in some losses exposing the rudimentary underdrawings. Originally, the surfaces would have been decorated with spangles and sequins, most of which have been lost.

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