Bowl with mold-impressed exterior

Customarily called the "fish-egg" design, a dotted surface in shallow-relief was the goldsmith's contribution to various metalwork that began to appear in the late seventh century. Henan potters sought to adapt this manner of ornamentation through individual experiments, as can be seen in two specimens from Luoyang (Luoyang CRWT 1990: pl. 88; Li 1988: fig. 73). Using single- or two-piece molds, potters gave decoration as well as finish to the surfaces of their vessels with the technique of mold-impressing.