Gourd-Shaped Bottle with Lotuses

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Based on the shape of a calabash gourd, this type of bottle first appears in Chinese ceramics in the fourteenth century and becomes popular again in the sixteenth. Thought to hold the liquor of immortality, and carried by Daoist immortals, such gourds and the bottles in their shape are often associated with that religious tradition.

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