Box with lychees

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Asymmetrical, fruit-shaped boxes such as this one were made as part of sets of vessels used to hold confections and stored together in a larger box. The depth of the carving of the lychees on the cover and the lattice patterns on the sides are both typical of eighteenth-century carved lacquer.

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