Box with peonies

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Frequently depicted in carved lacquer, peonies are an important symbol for honor, rank, royalty, and wealth. This box bears additional flowers along the sides: camellias, chrysanthemums, pomegranates, and tree peonies. It is one of several pieces in The Met collection with a six-character mark carved on the bottom reading “Made during the reign of the Yongle emperor” (Da Ming Yongle nian zhi). The use of marks like this, seen more commonly on ceramics, began in the early fifteenth century and continued in all media into the twentieth. Works so marked were likely produced for the court.

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