The ancient door-frame housed at Nanjing Museum

This arched door frame is made up of spare components that were unearthed from an imperial kiln site in Nanjing. The door frame was supposed to be a backup for the splendid glazed pottery pagoda in the Great Proclaiming Grace Temple (Da Bao’en si) in Nanjing.

Commissioned by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Chengzu emperor (known as Yongle Emperor, r. 1403-1424) and lavishly decorated, the pagoda is one of the seven wonders of the Middle Ages. The door frame is the gem of the Nanjing Museum permanent collection.