Chinese lacquerware can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. With its elegant patterns, it creates a magnificent, colorful world on the surfaces of objects. Chinese lacquerware spread to Japan and Europe through the Silk Road, and the gilt decoration and mother-of-pearl inlay techniques of the Tang Dynasty had a profound influence on East Asian lacquer art. Both the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States house exquisite collections of Chinese lacquerware.