Syrian Canteen: Considered one of the most outstanding objects from the medieval Arab world, this extraordinary canteen recalls the shape of ceramic pilgrimage flasks. Its inlaid silver decoration combines elegant inscriptions, intricate geometric motifs, lively animal scrolls, and complex figural decoration, including Christian imagery. A representation of the Virgin and child occupies the center and is surrounded by scenes from the life of Christ: the Nativity, the Presentation at the Temple, and the Entry into Jerusalem. The back includes depictions of saints and knights. Such Christian imagery is found on a number of other objects from this period, and has been associated with the Christian communities of northern Iraq and Syria. In size and form, this canteen is the only known metal object of its kind, but curiously, it relates closely to an early fifteenth-century version in porcelain, suggesting it might not be a unique work of art after all.

Chinese Canteen: The shape of this monumental canteen was inspired by an Islamic prototype, the only known example of its kind. On the front of this porcelain canteen, a central boss bears an eight-pointed star, a common element in Islamic design. The stormy waves and wiry floral-scroll motif are associated with Jingdezhen porcelain that was exported in large quantities to the Islamic world. Although the back of the porcelain canteen is plain, its shallow indentation echoes the deep socket found on the brass flask. Because of this porcelain canteen’s sheer weight, it is uncertain whether it was ever used; it may have been intended purely as an ornamental object for a patron particularly interested in Islamic shapes and decoration.

Lacquer Tray: This black lacquer tray with mother of pearl inlay dates to China's Ming dynasty (1368-1644). It was donated to the Smithsonian in 1986 from the estate of an influential design editor. Smithsonian curators, however, were curious about the tray's black monochrome layer, which wasn't typical of 17th century decorative aesthetics. After further examination with the help of X-ray technology, they discovered a ghostly figure surrounded by an intricate landscape underneath the lacquer. Read more about the discovery here.

The Peacock Room: Once an opulent dining room in London and then a private exhibition space in Detroit, James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room is now a treasure of the Freer Gallery of Art. The room is now filled with more than 250 ceramics that museum founder Charles Lang Freer collected on his travels to Egypt, Iran, Japan, China, and Korea. While the Peacock Room was once a story of “art and money,” it is now a chapter in the history of art, which Whistler called “the story of the beautiful.”

Head Of A Pharoah: This impressive head originally belonged to a full, most likely standing statue. The headgear and moustache identify the figure as an Egyptian pharaoh; the tall crown with rounded top, known as the White Crown, signifies his rule over Upper (southern) Egypt. Details of the crown and face suggest this statue was carved in Dynasty 5 or 6, the period following the building of the Great Pyramids at Giza (circa 2500 BCE).

Spouted Drinking Horn With Gazelle Protome: This remarkable silver-gilt object is an extremely rare example of a drinking horn dating from the reign of the Sasanians in Iran (224-651), who controlled large areas of what is now west and central Asia from their homeland in southwestern Iran. While depictions of gazelles usually appear as quarry on Sasanian silver and gilt plates depicting royal hunts, here the head has been transformed into the protome (forepart) of an elegant drinking vessel.

Khusraw at the Castle of Shirin: The romance of Khusraw and Shirin ranks among the great masterpieces of Iranian literature and is the second of five poems in the Khamsa (Quintet) by the poet Nizami. A favorite subject for painters after the late fourteenth century, the poem narrates the adventures of the Sasanian king Khusraw Parviz (reigned 590-628) and the Armenian princess Shirin. This delicate painting is from one of the earliest extant illustrated copies of Nizami’s poem and represents a momentous encounter between the two lovers. The painting’s brilliant palette, minute details, and sumptuous textures exemplify the lyricism and refinement of the late fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century painting, which became the foundation for the Iranian pictorial tradition.

Washington Manuscript III - The Four Gospels (Codex Washingtonensis): During his first trip to Egypt in 1906, Charles Lang Freer was shown a series of biblical manuscripts that he found of “exceeding interest.” Claiming that they “carried me completely off my feet,” he soon acquired the works. Known today as the “Washington Codex of the Four Gospels,” the “Freer Gospels,” or “Codex Washingtonensis,” they represent some of the Freer Gallery’s most historically significant holdings. The codex is the third-oldest manuscript of the gospels written on parchment in the world.

The Cosmic Buddha: In Chinese Buddhist art, the sixth century was an era of great artistic transformation and theological debate. During that dynamic period, religion enjoyed both imperial patronage and abundant popular support. One sculpture deserving particular attention is a late sixth-century image of the Buddha, a headless figure identified as Vairochana, the Cosmic Buddha, described as the generative force behind all phenomena in the universe. The iconography of the narrative scenes that cover its form-fitting robe represents the life of the Historical Buddha as well as the “Realms of Existence,” a symbolic map of the Buddhist world. By looking at 3D renderings, which the Freer|Sackler made public online, scholars can now study these scenes, elucidating early Chinese narrative illustration and provide vital insight into the visual culture of sixth-century China.

Waves at Matsushima: Tawaraya Sōtatsu (ca. 1570‒ca. 1640), a fountainhead of Japanese painting and design, is one of the most influential yet elusive figures in Japanese culture. Sōtatsu’s work is instantly recognized by its bold, abstracted style, lavish swaths of gold and silver, and rich jewel tones. Matsushima (Pine Islands), a scenic play is Miyagi prefecture in northeastern Japan, is a famous site that has inspired poets through the centuries; it is also a sacred Buddhist pilgrimage destination. Only six pairs of large-scale screen paintings—including these screens and another pair of ink paintings of dragons in clouds, in the Freer Gallery of Art—are considered to have been painted by Sōtatsu. A once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of his iconic work will be on display at the Sackler Gallery, opening Oct. 24.

Wine Bottle: The bottle epitomizes the highest level of Korean ceramic craftsmanship, which even earned the praise of Chinese connoisseurs. Over a fine-grained, light gray body, the translucent glaze appears gray-green with a faint blue tonality, and an incised design of two phoenixes flying among peony scrolls covers the entire bottle. Molds could be used to produce similar effects of open vessels, such as bowls and dishes, but the decoration on this bottle was executed entirely by hand.

Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings, from the St. Petersburg Album: An unparalleled school of painting emerged under the Mughal emperors, who came to power in north India in 1526. Emperor Jahangir (reigned 1605-27) encouraged his artists to create lustrous images of historical events, persons, and luxury objects with astonishing fidelity and refinement of technique. Artists such as Bichitr turned these same skills to allegorical images, endowing statements of imperial desire with the authority of real events. A broad allegorical meaning is encapsulated in the Persian inscription written in the cartouches above and below the scene, which states that the emperor turns to religious men for guidance even as kings stand waiting before him, including King James I of England at bottom left.

Lidded Jar: Perhaps the most memorable images associated with Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Khmer Empire at Angkor in northwestern Cambodia (802-1431), are the enigmatic smiling faces sculpted in stone and gazing in the four directions that appear above the gateways to the walled city and on numerous towers within the Bayon, the Buddhist temple located at the physical and ritual center of the capital. The décor associates the jar explicitly with Angkor Thom and seemingly with Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181-?1218), who oversaw the building of the temple and city. No other example of a jar with this design is known.