Cups
MakerMade by
Unknown
Date1725-1750
MediumWheel-thrown Chinese export porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue, overglaze red and blue enamels, and gilding
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (height x diameter of each cup): 1 3/4 x 3 1/4in. (4.4 x 8.3cm)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineBequest of George Dudley Seymour
Object number1945.1.1407.1-.6
DescriptionSet of six small Chinese export porcelain cups with flared rims. Each cup has been hand-painted with an underglaze cobalt blue and an overglaze red enamel and gilding, a palette for decorating porcelain known as Imari. The cups are decorated in a floral pattern that is interrupted two times by a scene of a red and gold tree on a hill below a sky of blue clouds. These scenes are surrounded by a border of blue and gold. There is additional decoration on the inside of each cup, consisting of a small red flower with blue leaves and gold highlights surrounded by a thin blue line. Each cup has a thin, hand-painted, blue, border at the outside of the rim, bottom of the decoration, and top of the foot. Finally, there is the remnant of a gilded border on the flared rim of each cup, much of which has worn away. Imperfections in the porcelain appear as black dots in the surface of the cups. Four of the cups (.3, .4, .5, .6) have a crackled glaze on the surface of the porcelain and glaze. All of the cups show light wear in the gilding, most noticeably at the rim. One cup (.1) has a very short hairline crack at the rim.
Status
Not on view
