ABSTRACT
The Mongol Empire ushered in a new era of intercultural relations in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Ming dynasty in China and Timurid dynasty in Central Asia engaged with the Mongol legacy in different ways. In the realm of court art, the Mongol legacy in both the Ming and Timurid courts is reflected in ceramics, metalwork, painting, and dress. The incorporation of different patterns and vessels into materials produced for the court demonstrated a continued interest in the Mongol visual vocabulary, and a desire to expand upon Mongol innovations in the decorative arts by continuing to incorporate West Asian motifs into the visual arts. Europeans, however, probably did not distinguish between “China” and the Mongol Empire, and it was most likely the idea of China, which evolved over the course of the sixteenth century, that continued to inspire Europeans.
