Wrist Rest with Scene from "The West Chamber"

Wrist Rest with Scene from "The West Chamber"

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The motif of a woman reading a letter is most likely based on a woodblock print illustrating a scene from a fourteenth-century play known as either The West Chamber or The Romance of the West Chamber. This play, which tells of the convoluted romance between a young scholar and a beautiful woman, is one of the most well known in Chinese history, and allusions to some of its more famous moments are often found in the visual arts.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Wrist Rest with Scene from "The West Chamber"Wrist Rest with Scene from "The West Chamber"Wrist Rest with Scene from "The West Chamber"Wrist Rest with Scene from "The West Chamber"Wrist Rest with Scene from "The West Chamber"

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.