Garden seat with scene of a lotus pond

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Barrel-shaped garden seats, often made of wood or rattan, can be traced to the twelfth century. Porcelain examples, ideal for summertime, gained popularity in the sixteenth century with the development of a ceramic technique for firing large pieces. Here, rings of embossed dots around the top and bottom recall prototypes with fastenings for leather or fabric seat covers.

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