▁Stuart , ▁Thomas ▁Sul ly , ▁and ▁Hudson ▁River ▁School ▁pain ters ▁Thomas ▁Cole ▁and ▁San ford ▁G iff ord . ▁ ▁The ▁Art ▁of ▁the ▁An cient ▁Amer icas ▁collection ▁includes ▁roughly ▁ 2 , 0 0 0 ▁objects ▁from ▁more ▁than ▁ 4 0 ▁cult ures , ▁sp anning ▁more ▁than ▁ 4 , 5 0 0 ▁years . ▁ ▁The ▁collection ▁includes ▁body ▁ad orn ments , ▁tools , ▁cer am ic ▁vessels , ▁sculpt ure , ▁text iles , ▁and ▁metal ▁orn aments . ▁ ▁There ▁are ▁about ▁ 2 , 2 3 0 ▁objects ▁in ▁the ▁M int ' s ▁collection ▁of ▁Contempor ary ▁Art . ▁ ▁These ▁include ▁the ▁Be arden ▁collection ▁and ▁other ▁works ▁on ▁paper , ▁contemporary ▁sculpt ure , ▁and ▁phot ography ▁from ▁circa ▁ 1 9 4 5 ▁to ▁the ▁present . ▁ ▁The ▁M int ' s ▁Dec or ative ▁Arts ▁collection , ▁considered ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁fin est ▁in ▁the ▁country , ▁cent ers ▁on ▁its ▁hold ings ▁in ▁cer am ics . ▁ ▁Cont aining ▁more ▁than ▁ 1 2 , 0 0 0 ▁objects ▁from ▁ 2 0 0 0 ▁B . C . ▁to ▁ 1 9 5 0 ▁A . D ., ▁the ▁collection ▁includes ▁a ▁wide ▁variety ▁of ▁ancient ▁Chinese ▁cer am ics , ▁ 1 8 th ▁century ▁European ▁and ▁English ▁war es , ▁American ▁art ▁pot tery , ▁and ▁North ▁Carolina ▁pot tery . ▁ ▁The ▁M int ▁has ▁the ▁largest ▁and ▁most ▁compreh