
Plate
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
On this plate, which has a wooden substrate, pearl shell in various sizes has been applied to the front and sides and secured with pins. The flower motif at the center is often found on such items. Plates as well as ewers and basins, many in shapes derived from European vessels, were produced in Gujarat for the Portuguese trade. The only dated example is a plate in Lisbon that has the year 1568 incised into the bottom. Examples are also known from royal collections in Dresden, Paris, and London.
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.