This unusual two-colour stoneware bottle from Cambodia includes an upper section with a human face and ears. The tall neck of the bottle is covered with pale green glaze while the rest of the bottle is covered with dark brown glaze.Double gourd-shaped bottles were used as a ritual vessel to contain liquids or incense for offerings. An anthropomorphic bottle like this piece may have been used as a funerary urn.Khmer ceramics have a variety of distinctive forms. However, only two types of glazes were used. One was thin, pale green, usually translucent and finely crazed while the other varied from chestnut brown to olive-green and black and always mottled. Sometimes these two glazes were used on one piece.Excavations show that brown glazed wares were produced by the late tenth century. Khmer ceramics are noted for their simplicity in design. Decoration was used in moderation thus allowing for the beauty of the forms to stand out.
