Gems and Drips Vase

The virtuosic blending of color and texture shows how inventive decoration can triumph over nondescript form. Brightly colored drips of slurry clay cascade like melted wax down the two-handled jug-like body, whose shoulder and lower body exhibit impressed patterns and a watermelon rind glaze, respectively. Extruding bits of clay and a gold scalloped lip add to the impression that riotous decor has been imposed, rather than integrated, upon the vessel, transforming it from functional to purely decorative object.