Minneapolis Institute of Art

Phoenix-head ewer

China

Date

618–906

Medium

Sancai ware Stoneware with molded decor under a three-color glaze

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This classic Tang dynasty splashed glaze ewer was made specifically for burial. The unperforated beak could not function as a pouring spout and the vessel's main purpose was a fanciful tomb furnishing for the afterlife. Nothing exactly like this shape is known from the earlier Chinese ceramic tradition. A well-known group of Sassanian silver ewers recovered from tombs in south Russia reveal the inspiration for this basic ewer shape to be foreign. Likewise, the relief floral medallions and phoenix seen on the side of the ewer suggest the chased gold and silver decoration encountered on the type of Sassanian silver vessels that would have entered China along the Silk Road at this time. Accordingly, the vessel reflects the cosmopolitan, somewhat exotic taste of Tang high society. Asia

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