Tusk with Shishi

Tusk with Shishi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The front of this boar tusk netsuke is decorated with a shishi (guardian lion) and a cub. The back is embellished with a series of finely incised roundels of poet portraits and poems.


Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tusk with ShishiTusk with ShishiTusk with ShishiTusk with ShishiTusk with Shishi

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.