Bowl with serpent-shaped handle

The curved handle was a device adopted from forms in northern bronze art. Similar shapes in glazed stoneware and unglazed low- and high-fired earthenware have been unearthed in Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. The delicacy of this piece is shown by the two S-shaped appliqués on the shoulder and the linen pattern on the surface. Only Zhejiang potters created this artistic style on high-fired earthenware, as archaeological evidence found in kiln ruins at Xiaoshan (KG 1987.4: 371) and Shaoxing (KG 1957.2: 26) confirms.