Mum Stand

This magnificent candle or lamp stand consists of a shallow dish and a cylindrical holder, below which is a columnar support embellished with palmette designs and two entwined dragons atop a lotus blossom pedestal. The creamy white stoneware is covered with a finely crackled clear glaze that shows a slight yellow-green tinge where it is thick. The search for a white clay body represented a technical advancement of the kilns in northern China, anticipating the development of the true high-quality white porcelains during the late Tang period.