Late Mid-Century Chinese "Rice Grain" Porcelain Chawan Aka Tea Cups- Set of 4

Description

Excellent Pre-Owned Condition. Pristine.

These beauties are porcelain rice grain tea cups, a pottery technique that Chinese scholars believe to … more Excellent Pre-Owned Condition. Pristine.

These beauties are porcelain rice grain tea cups, a pottery technique that Chinese scholars believe to have begun sometime during the Sui or Tang dynasty. The translucent rice grain motif within the porcelain is exquisite and allows light to pass through the porcelain -- visually stunning. Rice grain is the name of the technique rather than actual rice grains. The technique involves wet clay that is first formed into a crude cup or plate on the potter’s wheel. After the piece is dried for several hours or for a day, it is carefully scraped with a special kind of knife which conforms to the curvature of the vessel. The next step is to cut in the rice kernel-shaped holes. This is done by a skilled potter, who uses a small, flexible steel lancet. The pottery is then dipped into or painted with up to thirty applications of clear glaze, until all the holes are filled. These cuties are in excellent condition with minimal, if any wear. Each cup’s interior center is an underglaze chrysanthemum flower mound with gilding on some of the leaves surrounded by a triple blue circular border with stenciled red and gold enamel single shou symbols inside the circle. The underglaze upper rim inner border is a bat and I-ching symbol fret motif. On the exterior, rice grains are outlined in red enamel surrounded by stenciled scrolls and flowers applied with gold and green enamels; the underglaze basal rim border has a radial leaf pattern with gilding. There is an underglaze blue handwritten Wan Yu mark on the bottom of each cup, a mark used until the late 1970s. Each measures 3½” x 2¼” Weight for the set is 11 oz.; capacity 4 oz. apiece; made from porcelain. Whether for tea or décor, these beauties will complement most any style and space.

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