Collection Gallery 1, Water
A small figure of a Daoist priest rides on the duck's back. Goryeo potters were known for celadon: the soft grey-green comes from a trace of iron in the glaze, fired in a kiln starved of air.
Collection Gallery 4, Tea
Jian ware bowls were made in Fujian for whisked tea, whose pale froth showed best against a dark glaze. The fine streaks that give the glaze its name form as iron separates out of it in the kiln.
Collection Gallery 5, Light
Small bottles like this held scented oils. Blowing glass into a carved mould let a workshop repeat one shape and pattern many times over, an early way of making identical things.
Collection Gallery 3, Wine
Carving a vessel from crystal is slow work, ground and polished rather than cut. The handle takes the shape of a lizard climbing the side, as if to look inside.
Collection Gallery 1, Water
A hydria has three handles: two at the sides for lifting it full, one at the back for pouring. Black-figure painters drew in black slip, then scratched details through it to the clay beneath.
Collection Gallery 5, Light
Oil filled the body and a wick in the nozzle gave a steady flame. Lamps like this travelled with traders on the Indian Ocean routes, which is how one came to be found in Sri Lanka.