17th Century Blanc de Chine Wine Cup

A Small 17th Century Blanc de Chine Wine Cup, Dehua Kilns, Fujian Province, c.1620 -1700. The base and lower section of this 17th Century wine cup is thickly potted with the vertical wall thinning to a delicate edge. The foot is deep and thick. Simple wine cups of this type are not common, they can also be rather difficult to date accurately. I have therefore given a rather broad date range. I think this cup is perhaps around 1650. The porcelain known in the West as Blanc de Chine was produced 300 miles south of the main Chinese kiln complex of Jingdezhen. The term Blanc de Chine refers to the fine grain white porcelain made at the kilns situated near Dehua in the coastal province of Fujian, these kilns also produced other types of porcelain. A rather freely painted blue and white ware, porcelain with brightly coloured `Swatow` type enamels as well as pieces with a brown iron-rich glaze. However it is the white blanc de Chine wares that have made these kilns famous. The quality and colour achieved by the Dehua potters was partly due to the local porcelain stone, it was unusually pure and was used without kaolin being added. This, combined with a low iron content and other chemical factors within the body as well as the glaze, enabled the potters to produce superb ivory-white Blanc de Chine porcelain.

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