Glove

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This luxurious, unmatched glove features a complex design embroidered in silver, gilded silver, and colored silks. The wide, tabbed gauntlets—edged with metallic lace and sequins—depict a hatted man, accompanied by a small dog, kneeling and aiming his gun at a deer. Teeming with natural elements, the other tabs present a serpent shimmying up a stalk, crenelated buildings, cattails, and sea-monsters undulating from below. These natural and supernatural symbols were popular embellishments for housewares, costume, and accessories, as can be seen in a portrait of Ellen Maurice (2017.249), where she holds a glove richly embroidered with gold serpents. This arrangement of symbols may suggest protection from something uncertain. The serpent was understood as a sign of wisdom or prudence—and sea monsters could emblemize danger or the unknown. It is, however, difficult to determine the precise meaning of the scene; the embroidery could represent a personal device or a shared memory with a thoughtful gift-giver. -Sarah Bochicchio, 2020

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