Musical Stone with Theme of the "Hundred Antiques"

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The association of bells and stone chimes with ancient ritual made them ideal subjects for reproduction as decorative objects. In the late eighteenth century, when the supply of jade was plentiful, archaistic bells and fanciful stone chimes were made from the precious material. The fashion for this type of jade object probably began in the imperial workshops during the Qianlong reign (1736–95) and continued in commercial enterprises through the nineteenth century.

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