Chinese Vase with Elephant Motif

A tall blue column with elephant heads at the shoulders and a frilled lip on top.

This vase with elephant motif comes from Nanyang, Henan Province, China, and is contemporary, in egg shell and Nanyang porcelain. Square-sectioned vases echo the shapes of ancient Chinese ritual vessels, a form potters have revisited for centuries. This one rises straight and slim from four small feet, its flat sides marked with faint panels near the base. Two elephant heads project from the shoulder, trunks curling out, below a short neck with a wavy, flared mouth. The pale blue glaze carries a fine crackle throughout. It is 16 inches high, 4 wide and 4 deep.

Built like a monument, glazed like a summer afternoon.