The Sung Dynasty in China was a time when ceramic art reached a high level of development.  When we lived in Southeast Asia, we managed to get some good pieces.  Most of the ceramics we managed to get in Malaysia and in Singapore were from later dynasties; but according to an expert at Singapore University, the vase in this picture is from very early in the Sung Dynasty.  The Time period for the Sung Dynasty is 960 to 1276, so that means this ceramic pot was probably made around a thousand years ago.  Wow!