Pilgrim Bottle Vase

The pilgrim flask form was widespread in both time and place and was produced in a variety of media, including Venetian glass, Central Asian leather, and Chinese ceramics. Some have suggested that the round, moon-shaped form originated in the Near East, but no matter what the origin, the various examples bear witness to travel of both people and technologies throughout the diverse cultural landscape of the Silk Route.

This pilgrim bottle vase, boldly decorated with pomegranates, peaches, and other Chinese symbols of prosperity, longevity, and integrity, manifests the development of the once foreign cloisonnee technique during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The technique, which involves constructing a design in metal and filling it with multicolored enamel, was highly developed in the Byzantine Empire in the tenth and eleventh centuries and traveled eastward during the Mongol period.