Book Description
In Beijing, Yongle inherited the imperial workshops instituted by the Mongol rulers of the preceding Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). The superb sculptures, lacquers, metalwork, ceramics, textiles, and ivories produced during Yongle’s reign show the following influences: Islamic metalwork and glass on porcelains; Tibetan Buddhist motifs on decorative arts and sculpture. As this book demonstrates, the art of this phase of the Ming dynasty clearly had a seminal role in the development of later Chinese decorative arts.