Set of seven pruning tools
Unknown Artist
1575–1600
Medium
Steel, partly gilded; mother-of-pearl
Dimensions
Overall (tool .1470): 3 5/16 × 5/8 × 12 in. (8.4 × 1.6 × 30.5 cm); Overall (knife .1471): 1 × 6 5/8 × 7 in. (2.5 × 16.8 × 17.8 cm); Overall (knife .1472): 1 1/4 × 1 × 12 in. (3.2 × 2.5 × 30.5 cm); Overall (saw .1473): 3 1/8 × 13 3/4 × 1 1/8 in. (7.9 × 34.9 × 2.9 cm) Overall (clippers .1474): 3 9/16 × 13 1/8 × 1 1/16 in. (9 × 33.3 × 2.7 cm); Overall (knife .1475): 2 7/8 × 1 3/8 × 12 3/4 in. (7.3 × 3.5 × 32.4 cm); Overall (knife .1476): 3 1/8 × 1 1/2 × 14 in. (7.9 × 3.8 × 35.6 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Steel
Culture
French, Moulins
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number
64.101.1470–.1476
Art Historical Context
This exquisite set of seven pruning tools, crafted in Moulins, France, between 1575 and 1600, offers a rare glimpse into the Renaissance fusion of functionality and luxury. Ranging from compact knives to larger clippers and a saw, each tool varies in size—from a slender 3 5/16-inch pruner to a 14-inch blade—designed for precise garden work like trimming vines or shaping ornamental plants. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture and Decorative Arts collection, this gift from Irwin Untermyer in 1964 highlights the era's sophisticated metalwork traditions. Made of steel, pa...