Permanent display
Embracing Color: Enamel in Chinese Decorative Arts, 1300–1900
2 Jul 2022 — 28 Jun 2026 at The Met Fifth Avenue
· New York
Embracing Color: Enamel in Chinese Decorative Arts, 1300–1900 explores six centuries of enamel craftsmanship in China, spanning the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The exhibition brings together a rich selection of objects — including cloisonne vessels, champlevé bronzes, and painted enamel wares — that reveal how Chinese artisans mastered and reinvented enamel techniques over time.
From the bold geometric patterns of early cloisonne to the delicate, painterly surfaces of Qing-dynasty painted enamels, the works on view demonstrate the extraordinary range of color, form, and skill that defined this tradition. Many pieces reflect the influence of cross-cultural exchange, as techniques and motifs traveled along trade routes between China, the Islamic world, and Europe.
The exhibition invites visitors to consider enamel not merely as a decorative medium but as a lens through which to understand Chinese artistic ambition, imperial patronage, and the global connections that shaped material culture across six hundred years.
From the bold geometric patterns of early cloisonne to the delicate, painterly surfaces of Qing-dynasty painted enamels, the works on view demonstrate the extraordinary range of color, form, and skill that defined this tradition. Many pieces reflect the influence of cross-cultural exchange, as techniques and motifs traveled along trade routes between China, the Islamic world, and Europe.
The exhibition invites visitors to consider enamel not merely as a decorative medium but as a lens through which to understand Chinese artistic ambition, imperial patronage, and the global connections that shaped material culture across six hundred years.
About the venue
The Met Fifth Avenue
· New York
The Met Fifth Avenue is the primary museum building for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The building is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
