Roof End Tile

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The lotus-petal motif, a symbol of Buddhism, adorns this tile, which would have capped off a row of tiles and lined up with other endpieces to form the eaves of a building. The Samguk Yusa (Memorabilla of the Three Kingdoms), one of the two earliest surviving histories of the Korean peninsula, informs us that the capital city of the Unified Silla, Gyeongju, was so prosperous that all of the dwellings, not just the residences of the nobility, had roofs of tile.

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