Minneapolis Institute of Art

Bottle

China

Date

7th century

Medium

White porcelaneous stoneware with white glaze

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Fine white wares of Sui (586-618) and early Tang (7th century) are arguably the world's earliest porcelains. Hard, white, and translucent, they were produced at the Xing kilns in Hebei province and the Gongxian kilns in Henan. Their white gaolin clay was exceptionally pure and well-refined with feldspar for hardness. The shape of this bottle is one of the most elegant in all Far Eastern ceramics. Beautifully proportioned, simple, and flawlessly executed, it was probably reserved for Buddhist ritual as a container for holy water. Popular domestically, large quantities of Gongxian and Xing wares have been found in the Middle Eastern sites of Siraf in the Persian Gulf and Samarda in Iraq. China, Asia

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