Object Image

The earliest securely dated Chinese cloisonné, in which colored glass paste is applied within metal enclosures and fired, dates from the reign of the Ming Xuande emperor (1426–35). However, cloisonné is recorded during the previous (Yuan) dynasty (1271–1368), and it has been suggested that the technique was introduced to China at that time via the western province of Yunnan, which under Mongol rule received an influx of Islamic people. The shape of this ewer, which was introduced to China in the early fifteenth century, also derives from Islamic metalwork

Credit: Gift of Edward G. Kennedy, 1929...

18th century
Cloisonné enamel
30.5cm
29.110.52
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019

Where you'll find this

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection