CLEVELAND, OH.- A late 13th-century Chinese carved lacquer box, one of the most significant and exquisite examples of its type, has been approved by the Collections Committee of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees. The Chinese lacquer box further enhances the museum’s renowned Asian art collection, as the museum moves toward the completion of its transformational building expansion and Asian collection reinstallation which will be completed in 2013. Adding such a rare object to the collection will allow scholars to develop new interpretations of the artistic achievements of Chinese culture. The Round Box with Decoration of Two Birds and Peonies is of great art-historical significance since it offers new insights into the development of early Chinese carved lacquer. This lacquer box is unique in combining both naturalistic and abstract approaches to the decoration of carved lacquer, incorporating a ge