Teacup in underglaze blue with lotus petal decor, Ming dynasty, Yongle reign (1403-1424)-China Archive

Image Number: K1B013707N000000000PAE
Dynasty: Ming dynasty
Category: Ceramics
Function: Container
Material: Minerals/Ceramics/
Description:
This bowl from the Yongle period has a round and straight mouth, a deep arc wall, small circles of feet, a concave bowl with a sharp bottom inside, and a convex bottom outside. It is commonly known as a chicken heart bowl. The Qing Palace or because its bowl looks like a lotus house, it is often called a “lotus seed tea bell”, while the large bowl is called a “lotus seed bowl”. The inner bottom is sharp and concave, while the outer bottom is convex like a sharp cone, so the Ming people called it Jianzu tea cup. On the outer wall, a circle of palisades is painted along the mouth and around the feet. On the wall, a circle of double hook lotus petals is painted, with peach shaped patterns. The inner mouth is painted with curly grass patterns, the center is decorated with four petal flowers, and the outer part is surrounded by a palindrome and an Arabic pattern. The fetal bone is even, blue and white flowers are thick and colorful, and occasionally there are black spots. Yongle’s pointy feet are generally more prominent than Xuande’s, but Yongle has no entertainment, so Ming literature such as Changwu Zhi only knows that Xuanmiao has pointy feet tea cups, but not Yongle. The Qing House Aftermath Committee counted and named it as “No Payment Blue and White Flowers”