This elegant, melon-shaped ewer has the hard grey body and opaque green glaze that typifies Yueh ware of the late T'ang dynasty. Celadon ware seems to have declined during the Sui and early T'ang periods (6th-8th centuries) with the advent of pure white, high-fired wares. However, the popularization and spread of the custom of tea drinking during T'ang helped bring celadon ware back into favor. The tea classic, Cha Ching, written by the late T'ang author, Lu Yu, extols the virtues of Yueh ware for drinking tea. The jadelike colors of Yueh ware were considered the most complimentary to the newly cultivated taste for green tea.