Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion

Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Makers of decorative arts often embellished the surfaces of vessels with famous stories. This brush pot depicts the statesman and calligrapher Wang Xizhi and his friends assembling at Kuaiji in 353 CE to celebrate the spring purification festival by drinking wine and writing poems, an event known as the Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion. More than just an appealing landscape with figures, the decoration signaled that the owner of the brush holder understood and appreciated history.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid PavilionBrush holder with Gathering at the Orchid PavilionBrush holder with Gathering at the Orchid PavilionBrush holder with Gathering at the Orchid PavilionBrush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion

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.