Funerary vase, China, 1201-1400

Tall pottery funerary vase with blue-green glaze, decorated with figures in relief, contained ashes in a tomb, Chinese, 1201 to 1400

Funerary vases or urns hold ashes after a cremation. They are found worldwide and are still used. The owner of this tall pottery vase may have been wealthy or important. It is elaborately decorated with a circle of robed figures and assorted birds, dragons and animals. The vase was acquired by the Wellcome collections in 1930 through the auction house Sotheby’s.