In the 18th-century, virtually every European aristocratic family owned an Asian porcelain tea service decorated with its coat of arms. Due to the great number of British families who possessed these heraldic objects, Chinese and Japanese factories manufactured more porcelain for export to England than to any other European country. See an example here, and visit gallery 290a for several more.

A Medieval cloister was usually a space at the heart of a monastery where a variety of highly regulated events in the lives of members of the religious order took place. The Museum’s cloister, based on the design at Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines in southwestern France, and the rare Romanesque fountain at its center, afford visitors a space for quiet thought.