Box for Accessories (Tebako) with Chrysanthemum Boy (Kikujidō) Pattern

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stylized, single-layered chrysanthemum blossoms, rendered in perfect circles using a burnished maki-e technique, recall earlier Kamakura-period (1185–1333) lacquers. The bamboo ladle, flowers, and river depicted on the lid refer to Chrysanthemum Boy (Kikujidō), the Noh play based on a story from ancient China. In it, an emissary of the emperor in search of a source of healing waters encounters a young boy. Having been banished from court centuries before, the youth had continued to diligently copy a couplet from the Lotus Sutra, one of the most important scriptures of Buddhism, on chrysanthemum leaves. Unaware of the lapsed time and having drunk from the stream where dew drops from the chrysanthemums had fallen, he was freed from aging and illness. In the play, the miraculous water is offered to the emperor for a distinguished and long life.

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