Philadelphia Museum of Art - On View : In the Galleries : Asian Art

The Museum's galleries of Asian Art feature art and architecture from all parts of the continent--East, South, Southeast, West, and Central--and highlight the region’s diversity and richness. You may find paintings and sculptures from China, Japan, India, and Tibet; furniture and decorative arts (including major collections of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ceramics); and a large and distinguished group of Persian and Turkish carpets.

Highlights from the Collections

Ceremonial Teahouse: Sunkaraku (Evanescent Joys)

Rama Pursues Kakasura with a Magical Grass-Arrow

Explore objects on view in the Asian Art galleries >>

The arts of China, Japan, and Korea join extensive holdings from India and the Himalayan regions

Rare architectural assemblages--including a majestic 17th-century reception hall from the palace of Duke Zhao, a Japanese teahouse by Ōgi Rodō, and an 18th-century scholar’s study from Beijing--add immeasurably to the interpretive and evocative value of the collections (and are quite popular with visitors).

Radiating from a 16th-century Indian Pillared Hall, the Indian and Himalayan galleries include sculpture from the medieval Hindu temples of northern and southern India, earlier Indian Buddhist images of the Gupta and Kushana periods, and metal ritual objects and sculptures from Tibet and Nepal. Changing installations in the galleries regularly display examples of vibrant "miniature" paintings from India as well as elaborate Tibetan and Nepalese hanging paintings.

Because of sensitivity to light and other conservation concerns, many of the objects on view in these galleries rotate periodically.

Mountains and Rivers: Japanese Landscapes

Galleries 241 -243, second floor

Sansui, the Japanese word for landscape, literally means “mountain and water.” These two elements comprise the yin and yang of the natural world and are favored subjects of Japanese artists. Traditional Asian geomancy dictates that a house, whether belonging to a fisherman or to an emperor, should be built with a mountain for protection to the north and water to the south.

Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection

Gallery 236, second floor

The 137 snuff bottles on view in this gallery encompass many decorative designs, including floral, figural, and landscape motifs, auspicious symbols, and poetry. Made from glass, porcelain, gourds, seeds, semiprecious stones, and hard stones, these bottles represent the versatility and expertise of the artisans who produced them and show the richness of the Museum's holdings.

Reception Hall from a Nobleman's Palace

Gallery 226, second floor

The only interior of its type in an American museum, this reception hall recreates a majestic space where a high-ranking nobleman, seated on his raised lacquer couch, would receive visitors—who in turn would undoubtedly be most impressed by the ceiling.

Ceremonial Teahouse: Sunkaraku

Gallery 244, second floor

One of the Museum’s most popular settings is Sunkaraku, a classic Japanese teahouse and bamboo garden offering visitors a temporary refuge from the complexities of daily life. Japanese architect Ōgi Rodō built the teahouse about 1917, using elements from an 18th-century teahouse and natural materials to create a marvel of aesthetic pleasure.

Temple Hall

Gallery 224, second floor

This evocative space, which now exists at the heart of the Museum’s rich collections of Indian art, is made up of elements acquired by a Philadelphia family traveling in India in the early years of this century.

Please note, many of the objects on view in these galleries rotate periodically.