A 17th or Early 18th Century Blanc de Chine Wine Cup

A Small Blanc de Chine Porcelain An Hua Wine Cup, Dehua Kilns, Shunzhi (1644-1661) or Kangxi (1662-1722). This small fluted tapered porcelain wine cup has An Hua decoration (secret decoration). There is an impressed design of flowering prunus to one side, the reverse is incised with a stork or crane. The base has a relief-moulded left facing swastika 卍 , this auspicious symbol derives from the Sanskrit word svastika, meaning ‘conducive to well-being’. It has different meanings in Asian countries and religions, in the context of this Chinese cup it probably represents the auspicious footprint of Buddha. 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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