Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The heavily potted vase has a tall ovoid body on a low, broad foot, a tall neck with cup-shaped mouth, and a conical cover with everted rim. The cover is surmounted by a bird with spread wings, its head in the air. The shoulder is surrounded by a pie-crust band and applied with a large, freely modelled dragon, its long snout sticking out, the left front claw grasping a pearl, the back feet resting on patches with impressed rings. The animal’s eyes, nose, teeth, ears, horns, mane as well as hooks along the serrated spine are all individually applied, its scaly body indicated through ring-stamping. The body curls all around the neck of the vase, the tail reaching high up, with a cloud motif applied above the dragon’s head and a small reclining boy at the back. The opaque bluish-white glaze leaves the footring, base, inside of cover and accidental patches above the foot free. The stoneware body is off-white but now discoloured a reddish-brown due to contact with earth. The cover was fired in place and forcibly removed, since it had adhered.