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stem cup

• Object type

  • stem cup

• Museum number

  PDF,B.638

• Description

  Small stem porcelain cup. Underglaze blue with two winged beasts resembling a lion and an elephant in waves. Wide band of waves on stem. Inscription in central roundel inside.

• Culture/period

  • Xuande
  • Ming dynasty

• Date

  • 1426-1435

• Production place

  • Made in: Jingdezhen
  • (Asia,China,Jiangxi (province),Jingdezhen)

• Materials

  • porcelain

• Technique

  • underglazed

• Dimensions

  • Height: 90 millimetres
  • Diameter: 103 millimetres

• Inscriptions

  • • Inscription Type

      mark

    • Inscription Language

      Chinese

    • Inscription Comment

      Six-character Xuande mark in a double circle in underglaze blue inside in the centre

• Curator's comments

  Published PDF date : Ming Xuande 1426-1435Room 95 label text:

  PDF B638

  Stem cup with mythical beasts

  
  Potters painted this porcelain stem cup with underglaze blue scrolling waves and mythical beasts. Inside is a Xuande reign mark in a double ring. Craftsmen at Jingdezhen thoroughly processed the local clay to remove any impurities. This resulted in highly refined clay which was purer, whiter, and finer in the early fifteenth century than in any other period of the Ming dynasty. This pure body is visible on this example in the flat unglazed base, at the rim of the vessel and where the design is just covered with a transparent glaze contrasting with the underglaze blue waves.

  
  Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration
  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province 江西省, 景德鎮
  Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period, AD1426–35

  More 

• Bibliography

  • Medley 1975 Monochrome pl. 96
  • Medley 1976 p.61, no.B638, pl.XII
  • Pierson 2004 p.85, no.B638

• Location

  On display: G95/dc18/sh3

• Acquisition name

  • On loan from: Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art

• Acquisition notes

  Purchased by Sir Percival David from Bluett & Sons on 27th April 1933. Listed in Bluett & Sons Sales Day Book (SDB) vol. 14, p.206, Lot 146. £25. Purchased at Sotheby's, 25th-26th April 1933 from the Stephen D. Winkworth Collection Sale.

• Department

  Asia

• Registration number

  PDF,B.638