A richly illustrated volume which features 33 short essays, each taking a single object as a starting point to unravel complex, interconnected, global histories.

In celebration of the centenary in 2023 of the National Museum of Asian Art, this new volume explores a range of artistic, historical, and technical exchanges that shaped the arts of Asia and late nineteenth-century America, through the juxtaposition of object based, localized micro-histories.

Written by curators, scientists, conservators and other museum staff, this multifaceted work explores issues of the circulation of materials, objects and technology which have long predated the contemporary period. This approach encourages readers to appreciate well known masterpieces as well as lesser known and unpublished works from a new perspective and focus on networks of artistic, cultural and historical connections that shaped their meaning and significance.

This publication is a thought-provoking, engaging and accessible volume that will appeal to those with an interest in the arts of Asia, from Turkey to Japan and in all media, as well as those readers with an appreciation for late nineteenth-century American art.

Massumeh Farhad is the Ebrahimi Family Curator of Persian, Arab, and Turkish Art, Chief Curator, and the senior associate director for research, National Museum of Asian Art. She is a specialist in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century arts of the book from Iran.

Sana Mirza is head of the scholarly programs and publications department, National Museum of Asian Art. She received her PhD in Islamic art from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 2021. Her research interests include artistic interchange in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, as well as digital art history.