Piece

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Judging from the traces of a rounded corner and former fold across the center of this textile, it may once have been a sleeve. A piece of this cloth in the National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, bears an inscription with a date corresponding to 1710 that associates the cloth with a woman. It is rare for a stencil-dyed textile to be securely dated, especially with such a comparatively early date. A stencil was probably used to apply resist paste before this textile was dyed with indigo. Touches of darker indigo enhance the pattern here and there.

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