Pilgrim’s flask with Central Asian dancers

Pilgrim’s flask with Central Asian dancers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Both the shape and decoration show foreign influence: the shape is based on a West Asian pilgrim’s flask, while the whirling dancer is performing a dance derived from the culture of Sogdia. Centered in present-day Uzbekistan, merchants from this polity, some of whom lived in China, dominated the Silk Road trade from the fourth to the seventh century.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pilgrim’s flask with Central Asian dancersPilgrim’s flask with Central Asian dancersPilgrim’s flask with Central Asian dancersPilgrim’s flask with Central Asian dancersPilgrim’s flask with Central Asian dancers

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.