Teabowl and saucer with quail and peonies

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The age-old Chinese pictorial subject of paired quails and rice stalks (substituted here by peonies) first appears on paintings dating back to the twelfth century, and perhaps earlier. The images functioned symbolically to form a rebus that suggested peace and harmony.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art