Peacocks, Pine Tree, and Peonies

Lü Ji 呂紀

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Paintings by Lü Ji (Japanese: Ryoki), a professional painter from the area of Ningbo in China, began to be exported to Japan by the early sixteenth century and had a significant impact on polychrome bird-and-flower painting in Japan during the late Muromachi period (1392–1573) and thereafter. This Lü Ji style work, created in Japan, bears a forged copy of a seal found on genuine works by Lü (see, for example, 1980.414 and 2005.494.2). It was likely created late in the Edo period or shortly thereafter, when largescale works by Lü or in his style continued to be in high demand. The painted image has been significantly compromised, with widespread abrasion of the surface and loss of pigments, which may have occurred when the work was remounted in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, before it was donated to The Met in 1914.

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