Ewer with Phoenix Head

The phoenix-head ewer is a high-fired white ware referred to in Chinese as qingbai (“bluish white”), as the luminous glaze is often tinged with blue. The earliest ceramic phoenix-headed ewers date from the Tang dynasty and were inspired by gold and silver prototypes imported from Sasanian Persia (224–651 C.E.). Maritime trade between China and the Philippines and Indonesia was greatly expanded during the early Song dynasty, in the late tenth century. Many examples of qingbai ware were exported either as luxury goods or as reciprocal gifts from China for tributary missions, according to “State Regulations of the Song Dynasty” (Song Hui Yao). When this piece was sold to the Brooklyn Museum in 1954, it was said that the previous owner was from Indonesia. Based on the fineness of the clay, it is thought that this ewer was made in the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. It is believed not to be from the Xicun or Chao-an kiln sites in Guangzhou or other southern Chinese kilns that also produced qingbai wares for export to Southeast Asia.