Chinese Ceramic Vase

A bulb at the mouth, a pear at the base, and crackle everywhere between.

This vase comes from Nanyang in Henan Province, China, and is contemporary, of egg shell and Nanyang porcelain. The bold network of dark crackle across an ivory glaze recalls Ge ware, one of the celebrated wares of the Song dynasty, whose cracked surface was deliberately prized. The body is pear-shaped above a low flared foot, and the narrow neck ends in a bulbous garlic-head mouth. Two small handles shaped like fish or birds cling to the neck. It is 3.5 inches wide and 7.75 high.

The cracks are the point, and they know it.