Treasures of 'The Met'

In the guide to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York it suggests that most visitors spend around 3 hours there.  It would have easily been possible to spend that time in the extraordinary Egyptian Temple of Dendur..

And marveling at the other Egyptian treasures..

It is of course a huge place - literally a monumental building at the side of Central Park and filled with a series of outstanding and very diverse permanent collections and exhibitions.

We spent more than four hours there on Saturday and only saw a fraction of the exhibits on the ground floor, leaving the galleries of wonderful paintings on the other floors for a future visit.

Many of the collections are donations from benefactors, this is one item from a gift of Sevres porcelain and French furniture with inlaid Sevres panels.

Complete rooms - this one from a house in Bordeaux - have been recreated using original furniture and paneling.

This is the centerpiece of a collection of arms and armour dating from the Renaissance to the present day.

I have, of course, many photos to share with anyone who would like to see more - these shots are just a few of the treasures which caught our attention as we visited.

A large and very rare  eighteenth century Chinese porcelain tureen in the shape of a carp.

One of a small collection of guilloche enamel, gold and jeweled Faberge eggs...

...and Faberge flowers made from precious stones and gold.

A very beautiful Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass window.

A Columbian figure in pure gold - part of an extensive collection of South American gold artefacts.

In one gallery was a temporary exhibition which is due to end in a few days  'Manus X Machina' - exploring the relationship between haute couture and technology.  The exhibition has apparently had more than 650,000 visitors and was very busy.

This 'coral' dress is 3D printed in plastic and is the work of Iris van Herpern, a young designer whose work I saw and photographed at the Museum of Art in Atlanta.  

So many different items to see and try to understand!