Silver Gilt Ewer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2007

Ewer
Silver-gilt and enamel
Rome, about 1600

Accession # 17.190.2115

The procession of figures and animals represents either the Triumph of Julius Caesar on his return from Egypt or the Triumph of Scipio Africanus on his return from Carthage. The enameled plaque held by the lion rampant on the top of the ewer reads, Materium superabat opus (the work transcended the material.)

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.