Dish

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The cracks on this dish, made to resemble the accidental cracks that sometimes occurred during the firing of ceramics, are deliberate. The piece is an example of ceramics produced in south China near the Southern Song capital of Hangzhou to re-create imperial wares produced earlier in the north: delicate cracks, sometimes known as crazing, are one of the hallmarks of the famed, and rare, Ru ware produced for the Northern Song court.

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