Chinese Shipwreck Funnel-Form Mercury Storage Vessel

Steel gray and sharply tapered, like a funnel that never got its job.

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. Conical vessel with a flat shoulder and a small raised mouth. The surface is gritty gray-green with faint horizontal grooves, pale patches and scattered tiny pits down the sides. It is 4.5 inches wide, 4.5 deep and 6.75 high.

Severe lines and a plain gray coat, worn well.