Brush holder with the story of Pan An

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The young women on the balcony of this wonderfully carved brush holder throw fruit to an attractive young man passing beneath them. He is most likely the extraordinarily handsome scholar Pan An (247–300), who often drew such attention. The cart pulled by a white goat, however, refers to another young man, Wei Jie (286–312), who was also known for his good looks but was not associated with fruit. The artist seems to have freely combined the tales of both men into a composite scene. Such images are often found in various decorative arts from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art