Vessel with Chinese Figures, China

Two women in relief, and a dark glaze that has run past their hems.

This large glazed pottery vessel with Chinese figures comes from China and dates to the 19th century. Big jars of this kind served Chinese households and shops as storage for water, grain, oil or pickles, and raised decoration dressed up a hardworking form. Figures stand in panels around the belly, their faces left pale against the near-black glaze. Beaded and scrolled bands circle the shoulder, and a basket-weave pattern wraps the lower body. The rim is bare clay. Twenty-six inches high and twenty-eight across.

Whatever it held, it held in good company.