Fine white wares of Sui (586-618) and early T'ang (7th century) are arguably the world's earliest porcelains. Hard, white, and translucent, they were produced at the Hsing kilns in Hopei province and the Kung-hsien kilns in Honan. Their white kaolin clay was exceptionally pure and well-refined with feldspar for hardness. The shape of this bottle is one of the most elegant in all Far Eastern ceramics. Beautifully proportioned, simple, and flawlessly executed, it was probably reserved for Buddhist ritual as a container for holy water. Popular domestically, large quantities of Kung-hsien and Hsing wares have been found in the Middle Eastern sites of Siraf in the Persian Gulf and Samarda in Iraq.