Zhenyuan Black Pottery Tea Canister with Phoenix Motif

Zhenyuan black pottery has been carried through local life for more than four centuries. Along the Ancient Tea Horse Road, pottery vessels served traveling caravans and tea communities across the region. The craft is associated with the Yi, Hani, and Lahu peoples of Zhenyuan and was listed as provincial intangible cultural heritage in Yunnan in 2009. This tea jar brings that living material tradition into a contemporary ritual of storing and revisiting Pu'er.