Vase with European women and children

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Profusely ornate, this vase reflects Chinese interests in European imagery and pictorial techniques during the eighteenth century. Chinese artists used a new palette of opaque enamels to create shading that could replicate Western painting styles. The stippling on the sky and ground, as well as the horizontal lines on the surface of the body of water, may indicate that a European copperplate etching served as the pictorial source for the vignette.

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