Water Dropper

3rd-4th century

Yue wares are named after the southern Chinese region in which they were made, a part of Zhejiang province known at the time as Yue. They were used at the imperial court and also sent from the south as tribute goods. Tortoise-shape water droppers or brush washers for calligraphy were first made in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 C.E.), although the Yue kilns began making them as early as the second century B.C.E. Yue ware was used domestically as well as traded, particularly from the eighth to eleventh century. Examples have been found as far away as Iraq and Africa, evidence of this vibrant trade.