Octagonal teacup in sweet white glaze, Ming dynasty, Jiajing reign (1522-1566)-China Archive

Image Number: K1B005042N000000000PAF
Dynasty: Ming dynasty
Category: Ceramics
Function: Container
Material: Minerals/Ceramics/
Description:
The tea bell is eight square, with straight mouth, deep wall and short circle feet. The whole vessel is painted with white glaze without lines. The glaze is sweet and white, and the fetal bone is thin. The blue and white book on the bottom of the vessel is “made in Jiajing year of the Ming Dynasty” in six character two line regular script with double circles. In the early Ming Dynasty, “sweet white” was the laudatory name for the white glaze, which was as white as fat. In the Qing Dynasty, it was sometimes called “white filling”, which is similar to “sweet white”. This device was signed as “a white tea bell” on the “Spot Check Report” or according to the old signature of the Qing Palace. It can be determined that the Qing Palace is used for tea tasting. For example, according to the records of the Ming Dynasty, “Ou is used for tea tasting, and white porcelain is good.” The white glazed tea bell also shows the color of tea, which is the most common tea drinking utensil in the Ming Dynasty.