Chinese Ceramic Vase

Fluted like a melon and pinched at the neck like a gourd, it cannot quite decide and does not have to.

This vase is from Nanyang, Henan Province, China, and is contemporary. It is egg shell and Nanyang porcelain. Lobed and gourd-like forms have a long history in Chinese ceramics, often associated with abundance and good fortune. The body swells at the shoulder and narrows into a long waisted foot, its whole length divided into soft vertical lobes. A small bulb-shaped neck rises at the top. The glaze is a pale sky blue with a faint crackle beneath the gloss. It is 11.25 inches high and 4.75 in diameter.

A vase with curves in every direction it could find.