Melon Form Cosmetic Box, 12th-13th century, Tuan Family Workshop, Chinese, 2 1/2 x 5 3/8 x 5 3/8 in. (6.35 x 13.65 x 13.65 cm) (overall), Qingbai ware Porcelain with pale blue glaze, China, 12th-13th century, Shaped in the form of a flattened melon, this lidded box is set on the interior with a large central flower bud from which issue three branches each with furled leaves and buds interspersed with three small rounded containers presumably for cosmetics. Boxes such as this, as well as seal-ink and multifunctional lidded boxes, were produced in great quantity at Yingqing kilns during Southern Song and Yuan periods. The most refined of these utilitarian wares would have appealed to the educated elite and aristocratic women of China, but a great quantity were made for burial as well as exported to Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.