A White Glazed Kundika, Late Tang/Five Dynasties Period (618 - 960)

The globular body supported on a slightly spreading foot, rising to a tall waisted neck collared by a flange and surmounted by a long tapering tubular mouth, set with a dragon head Spout to the shoulder, covered overall in a thin opaque glaze stopping above the foot revealing the granular white body; Ewers of this type, known as kundika after the Sanskrit term for a ‘pure-water bottle’, were used in Buddhist ceremonies during the Tang dynasty and derived their shapes from metal prototypes; 31cm, 12½ in.