Piece

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The wealthy throughout Europe adored Chinese silks, which were exported in massive numbers by the Spanish, the Portuguese and the British. Finely woven, and delicately painted by hand with exquisite floral motifs, designed to resonate with European taste, this type of patterning was described as “sprigged” in trade records. Glossy taffetas like this were used in Europe as dress fabric and as wall hangings.

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