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Covered Teacup and Saucer with Calligraphic Inscriptions in Underglaze Blue

• Artist

  Mark of Man tang fu ji in underglaze blue

• Year

  Qing dynasty (early 19th century)

• Media

  Ceramics

• Dimensions

  Height (cup) : 5.2 cm Diameter : 10 cm, Height (saucer) : 2.7 cm Diameter : 13.4 cm

• Museum No.

  C1981.0250

• Description

  Covered bowls were first introduced in the Kangxi period (1662–1722) of the Qing dynasty. Their flared mouths make them easy to fill with water and to pour tea into smaller cups for drinking. Some tea drinkers take full advantage of the covered bowl to sip tea directly from it by holding the bowl and the saucer in one hand and lifting the cover with the other to gently blow any tea leaves away. Compared with teapots, covered bowls offer better heat dissipation and they are thus widely used for brewing green or scented tea.

  This covered bowl consists of a cover, a bowl and a stand, which together form a functional tea ware set. Transcribed on the outside of the bowl and cover and on the inside of the stand are Tang dynasty poems expressing sentimental feelings about the passing of time and melancholic moments in life; the neatly written calligraphy forms a unique pattern on the vessel. The mark of the shop that produced or sold the set, “man tang fu ji”, is written on the top of the cover and repeated on the bases of the bowl and the saucer. The rims are bound in copper to protect the sides of the eggshell-thin porcelain.

• —The K.S. Lo Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art

• More information
  Hong Kong Museum of Art Google Arts & Culture