Hanging with children at play

Hanging with children at play

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This large polychrome silk embroidery features a popular motif known as “the hundred boys.” To express the desire for a prosperous family, hundreds of male children at play are depicted, usually in a beautiful garden. Here, 250 boys are engaging in various activities, such as wrestling, hide and seek, butterfly catching, deer riding, and playing with a ball. Each child is embroidered in a different posture with simple but fluid outlines, which required not only intensive skill but also artistic sensibility. Hangings like this usually served as wall decorations in wedding celebrations.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.