Statuette of a small hippopotamus (popularly called "William") at the Met was molded in Egyptian faience, a ceramic material made of ground quartz. Beneath the blue glaze, the body is adorned with lotus flowers, buds and leaves. William is famous as the institution’s unofficial mascot. The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "The Met", is the largest art museum in the United States fourth most visited art museum in the world.
A longstanding holiday tradition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, the presentation of its' Christmas tree and 18th-century Neapolitan crèche. A 20-foot blue spruce is gracefully adorned with cherubs and angels, while at the base an elaborate collection of Nativity scenes. All set in front of an eighteenth-century Spanish choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid in the Museum's Medieval Sculpture Hall.
