Dish with God of Longevity (Shoulao) and an attendant

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reviving a technique that was pioneered in the fifteenth century, the artists who decorated this dish used overglaze enamels to fill in the underglaze blue outlines. While written documents of the period do not use a specific term to refer to this application, it is now known as doucai, or “joined colors.” Reclaiming the technique in the Yongzheng period was a way of showing continuity with lauded enameling traditions of the past, while introducing new layers of visual complexity in the composition of the interior and exterior surfaces of the dish.

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