Dish with persimmons, flowers, and birds

Dish with persimmons, flowers, and birds

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The blue used in the depiction of the magpie was created using an oil-based pigment that allowed for the development of additional colors in the design of Chinese lacquers. Such pigments, to which a lead oxide is added as a drying agent, are known as litharge in Western writings, and as mituoseng in Chinese.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dish with persimmons, flowers, and birdsDish with persimmons, flowers, and birdsDish with persimmons, flowers, and birdsDish with persimmons, flowers, and birdsDish with persimmons, flowers, and birds

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.