Vase with decoration of rocks, flowers, and butterflies

Vase with decoration of rocks, flowers, and butterflies

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The decorating of porcelain with lacquer and mother-of-pearl exemplifies the inventiveness of Chinese art from the mid-seventeenth to the early eighteenth century. Although the vase is not marked, the shape is common among works produced during the reign of the Kangxi emperor. However, it is not clear if the lacquer and pearl shell were added when the vase was made or slightly later. Vases with this type of decoration are found in some numbers in Europe, where they are often known as laques burgautés,a term that was coined by nineteenth-century French specialists in porcelain and that is frequently, and incorrectly, used to describe works in lacquer with mother-of-pearl decoration.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vase with decoration of rocks, flowers, and butterfliesVase with decoration of rocks, flowers, and butterfliesVase with decoration of rocks, flowers, and butterfliesVase with decoration of rocks, flowers, and butterfliesVase with decoration of rocks, flowers, and butterflies

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.