Wine pot and cover. Porcelain with transparent (tianbai ) glaze. Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province江西省, 景德鎮. Ming dynasty, Yongle period, AD 1403–24. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. PDF A427  © Trustees of the British Museum

Height: 124 mm - Width: 120 mm - Depth: 85 mm. Porcelain wine pot, with chain attaching the cover to the pot. The wine-pot has a white body and grey-toned glaze. There is a cloud collar incised on the cover, a classic scroll on the spout, and lotus scroll on the body.Porcelain wine pot, with chain attaching the cover to the pot. The wine-pot has a white body and grey-toned glaze. There is a cloud collar incised on the cover, a classic scroll on the spout, and lotus scroll on the body.

White is the colour of mourning in China. The Yongle emperor ordered many white porcelain vessels from Jingdezhen with a 甜白tianbai (sweet white) glaze. These were intended for Buddhist ceremonies to mourn his father, the late Hongwu emperor and the late emperor’s wife. By holding such ceremonies, the Yongle emperor reinforced his legitimacy to reign. He personally attended these services to offer incense. Tianbai porcelains have a lustrous quality simply not achieved before or after the Yongle period. Ceramicists have discovered that tianbai wares have a far higher proportion of kaolin in the clay than earlier white wares and a reduced amount of limestone in the glaze, so that potters were able to fire them at a higher temperature. 

Bibliographic reference: Medley, Margaret, Volume 7: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 7 of 12, Tokyo, Kodansha ltd, 1975