Minneapolis Institute of Art

Ewer

China

Date

8th-9th century

Medium

Huangpu ware Stoneware with dark-brown glaze

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This well-proportioned, globular shaped ewer stands on a solid foot. It has a short, straight spout and a handle of joined double strands that arcs between shoulder and lip. The overall effect is pleasing: a simple robust shape combined with a thick, dark uniform glaze. Such ewers made their debut in the Sui dynasty (586-618), supplanting the chicken-head ewers and their descendants. Some of these vessels were used in the making of tea which, by the late Tang dynasty (618-906), had become a popular beverage. The ewers were used not for steeping tea, but as pitchers for dispersing hot water into individual tea bowls where it was whisked with dried powdered tea leaves. China, Asia

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