Panel from a table carpet showing the Four Continents, the Seasons, and Four Planets

Panel from a table carpet showing the Four Continents, the Seasons, and Four Planets

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This embroidered panel and MMA 64.101.1348 were probably the two ends of a decorative table carpet. The practice of covering tables with precious textiles began in Europe in the thirteenth century, when some imported pile carpets from the Middle East were considered too fine to be walked upon. The motifs of the Seasons and the Planets refer to the passage of time.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panel from a table carpet showing the Four Continents, the Seasons, and Four PlanetsPanel from a table carpet showing the Four Continents, the Seasons, and Four PlanetsPanel from a table carpet showing the Four Continents, the Seasons, and Four PlanetsPanel from a table carpet showing the Four Continents, the Seasons, and Four PlanetsPanel from a table carpet showing the Four Continents, the Seasons, and Four Planets

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.