About The Collection

East Asian Art

Representing 4,500 years of visual history, the VMFA’s East Asian collection features paintings, prints, sculptures, ceramics, metalwork, lacquers and other decorative arts from China, Japan and Korea. Collection themes include the Bronze Age, the spread of Buddhism, cross-cultural influences, ceramic development and trade, scholars’ implements, samurai culture, as well as tea-ceremony and incense art. These works reveal rich cultural influences and interactions both within East Asia and beyond.