Pagoda and Case

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This intricately carved ivory pagoda was acquired in China by Samuel Shaw, who arrived in the port city of Canton (Guangzhou) in 1784 aboard The Empress of China, the first merchant ship sent there from the newly independent United States. Shaw’s tower is modelled after the famous "Porcelain Pagoda" of Nanjing, a structure that was synonymous with China for Westerners. The model replicates its distinctive nine-story elevation with tiered roof eaves adorned with small bells.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art