‘Pilgrim’ flask with geometric design. Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration. Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province江西省, 景德鎮. Ming dynasty, Yongle period, AD 1403–24. Height: 242 mm. Width: 198 mm. Depth: 102 mm. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. PDF B696. British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum

Porcelain flask of baoyue form. Two strap-handles attached to the shoulder. Underglaze blue with dense geometrical pattern with central star-shaped motif and numerous hexagonal and triangular panels. Cloud collars with flowers around mouth. Bands of tricorn patterns and detached flowers around foot. Unglazed base.

This flask is unusual in both its form and decoration. It has a round flattened body with a raised boss on either side, a splayed circular foot, two handles and a globular neck. The decoration is arranged in concentric bands, radiating out from a six-pointed star panel containing a lotus flower, encircled by its own foliage. The dense pattern of decoration is reminiscent of Middle Eastern inlaid metalwork. As well as producing objects following the shapes of Middle Eastern dining utensils for the overseas market, Jingdezhen craftsmen made objects inspired by Middle Eastern forms to fulfil court demand for foreign ‘exotica’. Later potters made copies of this type of vessel for the Yongzheng emperor (ruled AD 1723–35), as evidenced by an example in the Palace Museum, Beijing.