Jar for Sutra Burial (Sankinko)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Made at Tokoname, one of Japan’s oldest pottery centers, this jar was coil-built and then smoothed on a wheel, a process that inspired its regionally distinctive embellishment of three lightly incised rings. Colors ranging from pale blue to vernal green cloak thick layers of kiln-fused ash glaze. Buried sometime in the late Heian period, this jar protected a bronze cylinder containing precious Buddhist sutras and relics.

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