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Plate with Peony Decoration, late 1300s-early 1400s, Cleveland Museum of Art: Chinese Art

This lacquer dish of strikingly deep red color is decorated with a dynamically carved design of three peony blossoms. Because of the complexity in lacquer production, items are often small and were seldom made for daily use. Lacquer was traditionally made using the sap of the lacquer tree found in southern China. Many successive layers of lacquer would be applied until the surface could be carved into complex geometric or figural forms. Red became the preferred color for lacquerware carvings, in part because the color has long been associated with good fortune in China. Size: Diameter: 16.5 cm (6 ½ in.) Medium: carved cinnabar lacquer on wood

Pair of Wheellock Pistols or Carbines, ca. 1650, Metropolitan Museum of Art: Arms and Armor

Rogers Fund, 1904 Size: 04.03.160; L. 26 3/8 in. (67 cm); L. of barrel 17 ¼ in. (43.8 cm); Cal. .42 in. (10.7 mm); Wt. 2 lb 10.3 oz. (1199.2 g); 04.03.161; L. 26 ½ in. (67.1 cm); L. of barrel 17 3/8 in. (44.1 cm); Cal. .57 in. (14.4 mm); Wt. 2 lb. 5 oz. (1048.9 g) Medium: Steel, mother-of-pearl, staghorn, wood (cherry or fruitwood)

Plate with Peony Decoration, late 1300s-early 1400s, Cleveland Museum of Art: Chinese Art

This lacquer dish of strikingly deep red color is decorated with a dynamically carved design of three peony blossoms. Because of the complexity in lacquer production, items are often small and were seldom made for daily use. Lacquer was traditionally made using the sap of the lacquer tree found in southern China. Many successive layers of lacquer would be applied until the surface could be carved into complex geometric or figural forms. Red became the preferred color for lacquerware carvings, in part because the color has long been associated with good fortune in China. Size: Diameter: 16.5 cm (6 ½ in.) Medium: carved cinnabar lacquer on wood

Teapot, ca. 1740, Metropolitan Museum of Art: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Gift of Carleton Macy, 1934 Size: Overall: 5 ½ × 6 5/8 in. (14 × 16.8 cm) Medium: Salt-glazed stoneware with underglaze “scratch blue” decoration

Double Key, Metropolitan Museum of Art: Cloisters

The Cloisters Collection, 1955 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Iron

Sword Guard (Tsuba), Metropolitan Museum of Art: Arms and Armor

Gift of Mrs. George A. Crocker (Elizabeth Masten), 1937 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Iron, gold, copper, copper-gold alloy (shakudō)

A rare example of a Black Sallet,

Height: 9.5 in/24 cm

Width: 9.1 in/23 cm

Depth: 19.3 in/49 cm