Phoenix-Headed Jar

Tang Dynasty, 618 - 906 AD
Gansu Provincial Museum

This jar is decorated with the head of a phoenix, and glazed in sancai. The phoenix appears to hold a pearl in his beak. The elaborate raised decoration on the body of the jar is colored in blue, green, and yellow, over a textured cream-colored ground. The handle is glazed in brown, which is reinforced by a similarly-colored stripe on the neck opposite.