Chinese Shipwreck Funnel-Form Mercury Storage Vessel

Smooth, chalk-pale and flat-topped, with a single neat porthole at the center.

This shipwreck funnel-form mercury storage vessel is from Cizao Kilns, Fujian Province, China. It is stoneware. Many shipwreck ceramics surfaced when fishermen off the coasts of Indonesia and Southeast Asia began catching them in their nets, often still intact and looking no worse for centuries underwater. Broad conical vessel with a flat top pierced by a small round opening with a raised edge. The surface is soft gray-white and fine, with a small orange fleck and light scuffing near the base. It is 4.5 inches wide, 4.5 deep and 6.25 high.

Plain-faced with a small mouth and a big silence.