Introduced into Europe during the 17th century, tea drinking was a popular custom by the middle of the 18th century. Tea, spices, silks, and porcelain made up most of the cargoes of the sailing ships of the Dutch, English, Danish, Swedish, and Portugese East India Companies. Wealthy Europeans demanded more varied and colorful tea wares than the familiar blue and white Canton.

This delicate and finely painted plate is one of an identical pair. Its double border decoration is unusual and is enriched by a rare use of silvered enamel (moyin) on the rim, which also has alternating gold and enamel outlined reserves of blue enamel flowers and gilt lotuses within a brocaded grisaille rice grain pattern.

This delicate and finely painted plate is one of an identical pair. Its double border decoration is unusual and is enriched by a rare use of silvered enamel (moyin) on the rim, which also has alternating gold and enamel outlined reserves of blue enamel flowers and gilt lotuses within a brocaded grisaille rice grain pattern.

On display in almost every room in the Reves wing at the Dallas Museum of Art are pieces of Chinese export porcelain assembled principally by Wendy Reves. The collection includes some 363 objects.

This large bowl, one of a pair (see 1985.R.824), was used for the storage of liquid or as jardinieres for flowering plants or other small trees. Its main decoration of large scale tree peonies and other exotic flowers is painted in the famille rose palette. The borders are of key fret, scroll, spiral, and blossom.

This large bowl, one of a pair (see 1985.R.823), was used for the storage of liquid or as jardinieres for flowering plants or other small trees. Its main decoration of large scale tree peonies and other exotic flowers is painted in the famille rose palette. The borders are of key fret, scroll, spiral, and blossom.

The great communal houses of Indonesia's traditional peoples reflect man's place in a tripartite cosmos, where humans live in the middle world, on earth, between heaven and the underworld. Notions of duality, portents of cardinal directions, and the dictates of the first ancestors are honored in these often elaborate buildings that are in many ways a microcosm of each group's belief system. Often the houses of aristocratic clans were beautifully embellished with carvings and painted designs.

This pivot-style wooden door is adorned with the carved image of a female with a small head, minimal features, and a rotund body displaying prominent breasts. She stands with her arms akimbo (hands on hips, elbows out) and her feet apart.