Chinese Vase with Elephant Motif

Pale green vase with elephant handles and a finely crackled skin.

This porcelain and shell vase with an elephant motif is from Nanyang, Henan Province, China, and is contemporary. Shell can be cut into small pieces and applied to ceramic or wood, and its natural luster gives the decorated surface a pearly, light-catching quality. Tall vessel with a six-sided body, a slender neck and a flared mouth, with two trunk-curled elephant-head handles near the top. The soft soft sea-green surface is covered with a delicate web of fine cracks. It is 3.25 inches wide, 3.25 deep and 5.25 high.

Cool color and small trunks, held up nicely.