Each piece of this tea service, including the sugar bowl seen here, was engraved with a date of 1795. The set was created for the wedding of prominent merchant Mr. J.M. Robertson of Connecticut.The combination of bulbous forms, urn-shaped finials, and foliate decorative banding suggests the prevailing taste for neoclassical design and a preference for English silver forms.

Each piece of this tea service, including the creamer seen here, was engraved with a date of 1795. The set was created for the wedding of prominent merchant Mr. J.M. Robertson of Connecticut.The combination of bulbous forms, urn-shaped finials, and foliate decorative banding suggests the prevailing taste for neoclassical design and a preference for English silver forms.

Each piece of this tea service, including the waste bowl seen here, was engraved with a date of 1795. The set was created for the wedding of prominent merchant Mr. J.M. Robertson of Connecticut.The combination of bulbous forms, urn-shaped finials, and foliate decorative banding suggests the prevailing taste for neoclassical design and a preference for English silver forms.

Each piece of this tea service, including the teapot seen here, was engraved with a date of 1795. The set was created for the wedding of prominent merchant Mr. J.M. Robertson of Connecticut.The combination of bulbous forms, urn-shaped finials, and foliate decorative banding suggests the prevailing taste for neoclassical design and a preference for English silver forms.

By the 1880s, Tiffany's expertise in creating presentation objects was legendary; the firm had produced acclaimed pieces for many of the world's most famous individuals. Both the presenter and the recipient of this humidor were well known in the 19th century.

Although less well known than Tiffany or Gorham, Whiting and Company produced some of the finest silver in America during the late 19th century. This coffeepot represents Whiting at its most innovative and technically dazzling. Rather than turning to Japan for inspiration, Whiting has drawn upon Russian silverwork which uses textiles and woven wicker as motifs.

The Handicraft Shop was organized in 1901. Designs were commonly produced as a collaborative effort, joining the talents of craftspeople in various media.

This creamer, commissioned by publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1897, is part of a highly unusual Tiffany and Company coffee service that is covered with skulls, severed hands, and serpents. The form of the coffeepot (2007.64.1) is adapted from a sculpture of the "serpent-skirted" Aztec goddess Coatlique, discovered in Mexico City in 1790.

At the center of this detailed 18th-century thangka is the wrathful goddess, or dharmapala, Palden Lhamo.

Portable metal sculptures played an important role in both the Hindu and Buddhist art of Southeast Asia. In Buddhism, the commission of any image of the Buddha or other Buddhist figure allowed the patron an opportunity to acquire merit for himself or for those to whom he dedicated the piece.