Recumbent bottle (yokobe)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This yokobe, or barrel-shaped vessel with a neck on its side, was produced to store liquids, primarily sake. It was coil-built in sections and smoothed by being beaten with wood tools. Fired standing on its side in a high-temperature, Korean-style single-chamber tunnel kiln (anagama), it acquired its streaked surface from falling ash.

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