Chinese Shipwreck Funnel-Form Mercury Storage Vessel

Long and slender as a candlestick, wearing a faint olive blush from shoulder to waist.

This shipwreck funnel-form mercury storage vessel is from Cizao Kilns, Fujian Province, China. It is stoneware. Funnel-shaped earthenware from the late Song or early Yuan periods is believed to have carried mercury, which alchemists long associated with immortality and which physicians prescribed for a variety of illnesses. Narrow vessel with a gently rounded shoulder, a small open mouth and a sleeve-like body. The surface is pale olive-gray with soft horizontal lines, white flecks, and a slight flare at the foot. It is 3 inches wide, 3 deep and 7 high.

Elegant in a minimal, barely-there fashion.