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Luxurious personal objects were an essential part of a privileged wardrobe during the 1700s and early 1800s, emphasizing their owner’s refinement and wealth. Especially popular were <em>étuis</em>, small ornamented cases containing miniature sewing, writing, or grooming implements that hung at a woman’s waist from an ornate clasp, known as a <em>chatelaine</em>. Despite its glittering surface, this small expensive set disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved or indentured people, whether in gold and stone mines or the shop where it was made.
England, 18th century
Did you know...
Stored inside this case are grooming and writing instruments such as a clasp knife, scissors, an ivory tablet, a pencil, a threading needle used for lacing corsets, and an ear scoop.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
Fabergé’s craftsmen in Moscow, especially under the watchful eye of workmaster Feodor Rückert, became known for their work in the pan-Slavic or neo-Russian style, hearkening back to 17th-century motifs of Russian folk art. Often on rather conventional shapes, Rückert and his silversmiths created an explosion of color, achieved through the historic technique of cloisonné enamel in which tiny metal lines are soldered to the surface then filled with glass powders in various colors and fired to create a high gloss finish. The result is a spectacular evocation of the 17th-century originals. Far from mere copies, however, Rückert's designs, such as this tea service, employ naturalistic or abstract motifs in a thoroughly modern adaptation of a remarkable earlier period of Russian art and decoration.
Russia, St. Petersburg
silver gilt, opaque cloisonné enamel
Overall: 17.2 x 5.9 cm (6 3/4 x 2 5/16 in.)
Did you know...
This tea strainer is part of a larger tea service.
The India Early Minshall Collection
This painting illustrates a story about a merchant who owned a donkey but did not have enough money to feed him. He was able to secure a tiger’s skin, in which he dressed his donkey at night, so he could forage freely in fields, frightening away the owners’ watchmen, seen here scrambling up in trees for safety. He succeeded for a time and grew fat and healthy, until a nearby donkey brayed, and he instinctively answered, revealing his true identity.
Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 13.8 x 10 cm (5 7/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Did you know...
The complex brushwork, soft grass, and furry tiger’s skin are characteristics of the artist Basavana’s distinctive style.
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
The schiavona-type broadsword features a complex barred guard that slopes forward. Its name derives from the Italian word for "Slavonic" and refers to the Slavonian corps who served as bodyguards to the Doge of Venice until the end of the Venetian Republic in 1797. Such swords were popular mainly with Venetians.
Italy, Venice, early 18th Century
steel, leather, wood, brass
Overall: 109.9 cm (43 1/4 in.); Blade: 94 cm (37 in.); Grip: 9.2 cm (3 5/8 in.); Guard: 13.3 cm (5 1/4 in.)
Did you know...
Usually used by the military, a broadsword has a straight, wide, two-edged blade a with basket-shaped guard that helps protect the hand.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Severance
Originally part of a large equestrian monument, this head allows us to imagine what was a common sight for the ancient viewer: imposing public statuary that embodied the civic values of imperial Rome. Military officials were often depicted on horseback, and the rider that was represented on the monument was likely a member of the imperial family. Such statues contained large amounts of bronze, and most were melted down for reuse in weapons and other implements in later times of crisis.
Roman
H: 24 x W: 17 15/16 x D: 7 in. (61 x 45.6 x 17.8 cm)
medium: gilt bronze
culture: Roman
dynasty: Julio-Claudian
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies.
This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
Flanders, Ghent and Bruges, late 15th century
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Codex: 22.5 x 15.2 cm (8 7/8 x 6 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
Carved in high relief, the original composition of this Attic grave marker can be reconstructed by comparison with the famous stele of Hegeso in Athens. With downcast eyes, the seated matron is dressed in a himation (cloak). Much of the lintel above is missing. It would have included an inscription with her name. The deceased is represented in a common domestic setting. The mood is somber and contemplative without any overt expression of mourning.
Greece
pentelic marble
Overall: 128.3 cm (50 1/2 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Leonard C. Hanna
John Vanderlyn
American, Kingston, New York 1775–1852 Kingston, New York
12 x 165 ft. (3.6 x 49.5 m)
medium: Oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 52.184 1952
Gift of the Senate House Association, Kingston, N.Y., 1952
The situla was a deluxe ritual vessel that played an important role in Egyptian religious ceremonies. The two scenes on this situla exemplify the dual roles of a pious Egyptian in the afterlife: receiving offerings from his family on the one hand and making offerings to the gods on the other. On one side of the vessel the deceased, Padiamennebnesuttawy ("He who Amen, lord of Karnak, gives"), sits in a low chair accompanied by his pet dog. The vertical, cross-shaped sign preceding the animal is his name, Nefer, meaning "good one" or "beautiful one." On the right, the deceased's eldest son, Amenhotep, makes offerings of incense and water to his father. On the other side the deceased demonstrates his piety by making an offering of round loaves of bread, vegetables, and meat to the gods. Opposite him are the gods who are the recipients of his offerings—Osiris, god of the dead; Horus, son of Isis; and Isis herself—each of whom wears elaborate beaded and feathered garments.
Egypt, Greco-Roman period (332 BCE–395 CE), Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BCE)
bronze
Diameter: 15.5 cm (6 1/8 in.); Diameter of mouth: 10.2 cm (4 in.); Overall: 28.3 cm (11 1/8 in.); with handle: 45.2 cm (17 13/16 in.)
The Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund
Across the Northwest Coast, native people engaged in renewal rites during the winter ceremonial season. This mask, with a beak that opens and head panels that move, may have been used during such celebrations. In 1998, Robert Joseph, a Northwest Coast chief, recalled that when he donned dance masks like this one as a youth, "all the world is somewhere else . . . I am the mask . . . the bird . . . the animal . . . the spirit. I transcend into the being of the mask."
Native North America, Northwest Coast, British Columbia, Nuxalk (Bella Coola)
wood, pigment, restored eye inlays
Overall: 35.6 x 45.8 x 24.2 cm (14 x 18 1/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund
View taken at Alençon (Vue Prise à Alençon), 1839. Jules Dupré (French, 1811–1889). Lithograph; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Elizabeth Carroll Shearer 2016.166
More at clevelandart.org/art/2016.166
Abraham Bloemaert, active in Utrecht, was a painter, prolific draftsman, print designer, and important teacher. Bloemaert was an important precursor of the new wave of realism in Dutch art in the 1620s. Artist and author Karel van Mander (1548-1606) wrote the following description of Bloemaert=s drawings in 1604 which seems to correspond very closely to this work: With art lovers there are also by him very attractive landscapes with some attractive and funny farmhouses, farm tools, trees, and backgrounds, things to be seen around Utrecht in great numbers and variety, for he does very much from life, having a very attractive way of drawing and handling with the pen, to which he then adds some succulent touches of colors for a special seemliness.
Netherlands, early 17th Century
pen and brown ink with brush and brown, blue, red and yellow wash, over black and red chalk
Sheet: 17.2 x 27.2 cm (6 3/4 x 10 11/16 in.)
Bequest of James Parmelee
The depicted scene features a bearded, standing deity in a horned crown carrying a mace or staff. The deity faces a bearded, standing worshipper with one raised arm. Behind the deity is a third figure, standing with both arms raised. All three figures wear long robes. The scene also includes a cuneiform inscription in three registers.
Cylinder seals are cylindrical objects carved in reverse (intaglio) in order to leave raised impressions when rolled into clay. Seals were generally used to mark ownership, and they could act as official identifiers, like a signature, for individuals and institutions. A seal’s owner rolled impressions in wet clay to secure property such as baskets, letters, jars, and even rooms and buildings. This clay sealing prevented tampering because it had to be broken in order to access a safeguarded item. Cylinder seals were often made of durable material, usually stone, and most were drilled lengthwise so they could be strung and worn. A seal’s material and the images inscribed on the seal itself could be protective. The artistry and design might be appreciated and considered decorative as well. Cylinder seals were produced in the Near East beginning in the fourth millennium BCE and date to every period through the end of the first millennium BCE.
Babylonian
H: 13/16 x Diam: 1/2 in. (2.1 x 1.2 cm)
medium: brown and white stone
culture: Babylonian
Walters Art Museum, 1941, by purchase.
This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies.
This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
Flanders, Ghent and Bruges, late 15th century
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Codex: 22.5 x 15.2 cm (8 7/8 x 6 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
H. 3 in. (7.6 cm); W. 5 7/8 in. (14.9 cm); D. 4 5/16 in. (11 cm)
medium: Gold and silver maki-e on gold lacquer
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 14.40.866a–c 1914
Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
Each of the four gospels in this book opens on a page with brilliantly illuminated borders depicting the author of the text as well as birds—principally peacocks, symbols of the immortality of the soul—and fountains, representing the fountain of life and the salvation of the soul. This volume consists of 428 leaves with texts in Greek. Its level of sophistication suggests that it was probably written and decorated in a monastery in Constantinople.
Byzantium, Constantinople
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; leather binding
Sheet: 28 x 23 cm (11 x 9 1/16 in.)
Did you know...
Gospel books were carried in procession through Byzantine churches.
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund