The Graduated Brass Jars

Three brass ginger jars in graduating sizes — bulbous body, domed lid, pointed finial, flared foot. The patina is warm and uneven in the way that only time produces: deeper in the recesses, brighter at the shoulders, with a quality of handling that no finish can replicate.

The ginger jar is one of the oldest decorative forms in the world. This set reads 1970s–80s, likely Indian or Chinese manufacture for the Western decorative market — the irregular surface and the subtle variation between the three jars are the tell. Not a matched factory set. A found one.

Displayed as a trio or pulled apart. A mantle, a shelf, a side table. They anchor a room without trying to.