Furniture Cover with Pattern of Flowers and Sonorous Stones

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This embroidered textile may have served as a table covering. At the center of the piece is a large, round, full-face flower surrounded by four flowers in profile with scrolling stems that sit in a geometric field. That field, in turn, has a wide border that repeats the theme of large flowers in profile and scrolling stems. Four sonorous stones and clusters of small, red nandina berries are also found in the border. As with the needlepoint embroidery practiced today, the embroidery stitches of this textile completely cover the foundation cloth, a yellow silk gauze.

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