Pouring Vessel (Kendi) with Flowers and Fruits

Pouring Vessel (Kendi) with Flowers and Fruits

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Chinese manufacture of this drinking vessel with a long neck and a spout, known as kendi (a Malay word), began during the fourteenth century for export to Muslim communities in Southeast Asia. By the sixteenth century it was carried farther afield to the Middle East, where Persian copies were made. This late sixteenth-century version, not necessarily made for export to Europe, is decorated in patterns that commonly were applied to kraak porcelain.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pouring Vessel (Kendi) with Flowers and FruitsPouring Vessel (Kendi) with Flowers and FruitsPouring Vessel (Kendi) with Flowers and FruitsPouring Vessel (Kendi) with Flowers and FruitsPouring Vessel (Kendi) with Flowers and Fruits

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.