During the Tang dynasty, the ceramic industry reached the first major peak in Chinese ceramic history, giving rise to the flourishing “Southern celadon, Northern white ware, and Tang sancai” production system. Within these traditions, Yue ware’s 'secret color' celadon and the refined white porcelains of Xing ware represent the highest technical and aesthetic accomplishments of Tang ceramics and were, at times, produced as tribute wares for the imperial court.
The present ewer is a recurrent form in northern kiln productions from the late Tang to the early Northern Song period. Its morphology closely parallels the “Laodejia tea ewer” excavated from the tomb of Wang Mingzhe, dated to the third year of Taihe (829) in Xi’an, and bears significant resemblance to the white-glazed Xing ware ewers recovered from the tomb of Liu Fujun of the Tang dynasty. These vessels functioned primarily as tea ewers for holding hot water, intended for the preparation of tea in the Tang period.