Emerald Cities

Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam & Burma, 1775–1950
October 23, 2009–January 10, 2010

Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam & Burma, 1775–1950 featured more than 140 artworks drawn exclusively from the museum’s collection, which is one of the largest and most important collections of nineteenth century Siamese and Burmese art outside of Southeast Asia.

About two-thirds of the works were donated from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Southeast Asian Art Collection. The exhibition displayed ornately carved furniture, lavishly decorated miniature shrines, gilded statues, elaborately illustrated manuscripts, colorfully detailed paintings, and mirrored and bejeweled ritual objects.