Cup

late 17th century

Dehua potters created shapes unique to other materials like antique bronzes and cups made of rhinoceros horn. Costly rhinoceros horn was believed to possess special power to nurture health and the mind. Drinking cups were therefore made from the horns and decorated with auspicious motifs, typically on the subject of longevity--pine and crane, plum, and deer--all of which appear on this cup.

Hard paste porcelain

3 in. x 5 3/4 in. (7.6 x 14.6 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

33.681

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Blanc de Chine, Feb. 4 - June 20, 1988.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Porcelain Stories: From China to Europe, Feb. 17 - May 7, 2000.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Glaze, Pattern and Image: Decoration in Chinese Ceramics, Sept. 7 - Nov. 19, 2002.

Published ReferencesEmerson, Julie, Jennifer Chen, & Mimi Gardner Gates, Porcelain Stories, From China to Europe, Seattle Art Museum, 2000, pg. 155

Chinese Porcelain an Export to the World, Joint Publishing Company, (H.K.) Co. Ltd., 2008, pg. 105

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