The piece 器
Ice-plum turns blue-and-white inside out: instead of painting blue flowers on white, the painter floods the ground with deep cobalt — mottled like cracking river ice — and leaves the plum blossoms as untouched white porcelain (蓝地白花, “white flowers on a blue ground”). Dark branches thread the blossoms together across body and lid. Inside, the bowl stays white and quiet: twin lines at the lip, and a single blue plum medallion waiting at the bottom of your tea.
The making 工
Painting the negative space is the hard way round — the cobalt ground must be laid in even, layered washes around every petal without touching one. Then a bright transparent glaze, and one high-temperature firing. The result reads midnight blue in the hand and glows under light.
Specifications
- Origin — Jingdezhen, China
- Material — high-fired porcelain
- Decoration — hand-painted underglaze cobalt, reserved-white ice-plum motif
- Glaze — bright, glossy and even
- Form — flared lip, deep bowl, tall foot; domed lid with ring knob
- Care — dishwasher safe, though it prefers hands
Each gaiwan is painted individually — no two ice grounds crack alike. That is the point.
