Chinese Shipwreck Funnel-Form Mercury Storage Vessel

Bulging and banded at the top, narrowing to a heel that could balance a coin.

This shipwreck funnel-form mercury storage vessel is from Cizao Kilns, Fujian Province, China. It is stoneware. Most ceramics carried on trading ships were practical, and many were vessels holding wine, making them roughly the equivalent of today's wine bottles, although some were delicate blue and white porcelain. Gray-blue vessel with a domed shoulder marked by deep ridges and a small hole at the crown. The sides taper to a tight foot, and faint reddish staining runs along one side. It is 7 inches high and 4.5 in diameter.

A good bit of wobble in the posture, none in the nerve.