The piece 器
The fiercest animal in the mountains, painted at its least fierce: a round-bellied tiger cub, stripes still soft, sitting up to study a butterfly it has no real intention of catching. Turn the cup and the story continues — a stand of hand-painted bamboo on the reverse, the cub’s imaginary jungle. A quiet joke in the old blue-and-white manner: courage, at teacup scale.
The making 工
Hand-painted in Jingdezhen in underglaze cobalt — the cub’s stripes and cheeks in graded washes, bamboo in single-breath strokes. The body is fine and smooth (胎质细腻), the glaze even and quietly glossy across the whole cup. High-temperature fired; comfortable in the hand with no handle to argue with.
Specifications
- Origin — Jingdezhen, China
- Material — high-fired porcelain, fine smooth body
- Decoration — hand-painted underglaze cobalt, tiger cub and bamboo
- Glaze — even, bright and clean
- Form — small handleless tea cup
- Care — dishwasher safe, though it prefers hands
Each cub is painted individually — some watch the butterfly, some have clearly given up. That is the point.
