Porcelain stemcup decorated in underglaze red, Jingdezhen, Qing dynasty, Kangxi reign (1662-1722)
Porcelain stemcup decorated in underglaze red, Jingdezhen, Qing dynasty, Kangxi reign (1662-1722). Height: 9.1 cm, Diameter: 9.1 cm. C.108-1929. H.B. Harris Bequest. © V&A Images.
Porcelain stem cup with high foot, painted in underglaze copper red with three stylised fish, equally distanced. Apocryphal 'Da Ming Xuande nian zhi' in underglaze blue inside the foot Made during the Xuande reign of the Great Ming.
This cup was produced in the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen in south China during the reign period of the emperor Kangxi (1662-1722). The decoration of the three stylised fishes in underglaze red was made after a Ming original of the 16th century, and a mark of the Xuande emperor (1426-1435) is painted in the inside.
The practice of adding marks of earlier periods can often be seen on Chinese porcelain. In this case, the combination of the Xuande mark with a decorative style of the Ming dynasty can be interpreted as an homage to the past and a form of reverence to earlier dynasties.