Chinese Ceramic Pillow

Chasing a ribbon-tied ball, two cobalt lions tumble around a very busy cube.

This porcelain pillow is from Hebei Province, China, and is contemporary. Porcelain is a fine, high-fired ceramic, and kilns in Hebei Province have a long record of making pillows and other household wares. Blue painted beasts with dotted coats and curling manes tumble around a ribbon-tied sphere on a white ground. A key-pattern band frames the top and bottom, and the upper surface has a row of open slots. It is 4.75 inches wide, 5.25 deep and 2.25 high.

Playful beasts in tidy borders, as is only proper.