Brush holder with flowers and poems

Brush holder with flowers and poems

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This brush holder epitomizes the kind of molded gourd vessels made in the imperial workshop during the Qing dynasty. These ingeniously crafted containers were made by encasing a young gourd in a wooden mold composed of several sectional wood panels with engraved motifs. As the gourd grew, it filled the mold and took its shape, including the surface decoration.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Brush holder with flowers and poemsBrush holder with flowers and poemsBrush holder with flowers and poemsBrush holder with flowers and poemsBrush holder with flowers and poems

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.