Panel with Fish, Bats, and Clouds

Panel with Fish, Bats, and Clouds

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This panel probably came from a chair cover, possibly from the part that covered the seat. Word play makes the motifs auspicious: five bats (fu, a homophone for the Chinese word for happiness) surround a musical stone and a pair of fish, associated with good fortune and affluence.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panel with Fish, Bats, and CloudsPanel with Fish, Bats, and CloudsPanel with Fish, Bats, and CloudsPanel with Fish, Bats, and CloudsPanel with Fish, Bats, and Clouds

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.