Bowl with double fish, dancers, and animals

Bowl with double fish, dancers, and animals

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Paired fish are an auspicious emblem (mangala) that first appeared in conjunction with the earliest Buddhist and Jain images from India. The presence this motif suggests that this bowl likely had a ritual function. The animals and dancers relate to Central Asian art, while the palmette design is similar to Sogdian and earlier Gandharan production.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bowl with double fish, dancers, and animalsBowl with double fish, dancers, and animalsBowl with double fish, dancers, and animalsBowl with double fish, dancers, and animalsBowl with double fish, dancers, and animals

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.