Message Case with Landscape

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This tube-like message case, intended to hold precious documents, could be attached to a chain and carried as a pendant. A very unusual work, it was created in France using a Japanese lacquer object and French gilded mounts bearing the mark of discharge (décharge) for the city of Paris from about 1768 to 1774. Its maki-e decoration depicts a landscape with a house and rocky shore. As Japanese lacquers were rare and precious in Europe due to limited Western contact with the isolated island country, such objects were often repurposed and refurbished with the addition of expensive gold or gilded mounts, which were thought to enhance their beauty and significantly increased their value.

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