Portable Cabinet with Drawers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This cabinet belongs to a category of goods known as nanban (literally, "southern barbarians"), which were produced in Japan in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries for trade with Portugal and other European countries. The form of the cabinet derives from writing chests used in Portugal and Spain. Comparable works, made with wood, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, and ivory, were produced in India for the same markets. The leaves and flowers and the geometric borders seen here are not found on contemporaneous works made for use in Japan. It is possible that they demonstrate an awareness of Indian designs transmitted via such trade goods as lacquers and textiles.

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