Footed beaker

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In terms of silver content, one of these beakers (see also 2010.110.4) was considered equal to ten of the Show-Thaler coins, though their overall value is amplified by ornament and craftsmanship. Transylvania, a Hungarian province, supplied much of Europe’s silver and gold at the time. Alchemists regarded silver as the moon’s metal, imbued with magic powers. It was also the currency of cash, in particular the Thaler: a coin minted throughout sixteenth-century Europe. In an era marked by constant threat of war, precious silver vessels were literally worth their weight in currency—easily melted down in times of need.

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