Water dropper in the form of a mythical creature

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This playful water dropper—an essential utensil for a scholar’s table—is an artful evocation of a bronze example from the Six Dynasties period (220–589). Reflecting the eighteenth-century’s taste for archaistic recreations of objects from high antiquity—often in a different medium—the water dropper also draws attention to the technical virtuosity of the artist, whose use of a greenish brown glaze successfully mimics the patina of an ancient bronze.

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