Palampore

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Palampores were a regular feature of the eighteenth-century chintz trade to Europe, where they were prized as wall hangings and bed and table coverings. They typically show a central flower-and-fruit-bearing serpentine tree emerging from a hillock with stylized peaks or rocks. In addition to those produced for the Dutch and English markets, a class of smaller palampores was made expressly for the intra-Asian trade. This robustly painted version was originally sourced to Sri Lanka, likely made for the European communities in Batavia and Colombo or for families of mixed European and Asian descent wishing to emulate Western taste. cat. no. 37

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