The 100th anniversary celebration of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Asian Art department continues this month with the opening of exhibitions on Chinese lacquer and textiles.
The show on lacquer, which opened Saturday, includes works donated in March by the philanthropists Florence and Herbert Irving — among them trays, dishes and boxes, some made of carved red and black lacquer, others inlaid with mother-of-pearl or gold. Historical narratives, mythical animals and motifs symbolic of longevity and prosperity are pictured.
