Red on White Teacup

Tea drinking has been an integral part of Chinese culture for centuries, resulting in a wide range of social customs and material traditions both practical and decorative. This fine porcelain tea cup has a simple, tapered form, shaped with a very thin body and a narrow footed base. Wrapped around the center of the bowl are various stamped patterns of Chinese characters atop a white glaze. The underside of the tea cup is finished with a stamped maker’s mark.