Sarasa with Figures, Birds, and Fantastic Animals

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This extremely rare sarasa—Indian painted cotton produced for the Japanese market—offers an Indian version of an Oriental fantasy. The unparalleled design includes whimsical figures and fanciful creatures in a lush forest. In each repeat, figures carry palanquins (covered litters) and hold umbrella canopies. The dark ground evokes late seventeenth-century Chinese lacquer screens. Its overtly Oriental flavor represents an Indian interpretation of chinoiserie, which itself developed from European reinterpretations of motifs found on decorative art objects imported from China. cat. no. 33

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