Vase with figures in a landscape

A tall, black-lacquered baluster vase with a flared neck, decorated with inlaid mother-of-pearl figures of two children beside a railing, bamboo stalks, a full moon and a flowering shrub. The bands of fine floral and geometric pattern encircle the neck and shoulder, and the scene is rendered in a restrained, silvery palette against the dark ground.

Look closer: A small flowering sprig and tiny blossoms are scattered across the upper shoulder near the neck band.

Artist

Unknown

Date

Medium

Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration, coated with black lacquer inlaid with mother-of-pearl (lac burgauté)

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3000 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase by subscription, 1879