Ewer with hand-formed spout and dragon handle

Southern celadon pots with dragon-shaped handles of the Six Dynasties period provided an immediate model to northern kilns in the sixth century, as Sui dragon-handled vessels have been found in Henan, Hebei, and Shaanxi provinces. The glamorously curved dragon handle continuously played a role on ceramics during the Tang dynasty, chiefly decorating northern vessels, while on the southern wares, entire sculpted dragons were applied to the surface of the vessel. The ding kilns in Hebei are known to have produced dragon-handled ewers in white glaze since the late Tang period (KG 1965.8: pl. 5.5).