Ritual wine cup (jue), Yongle reign period (1403-24), Jingdezhen kilns, south China. Porcelain with white glaze. Height: 14.5 cm, Length: 17.5 cm. 706-1883 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2017.

This wine cup would have been used in sacrificial ceremonies performed by the Yongle emperor.

The white porcelain cup standing on three legs, known as a 'jue', was a wine container in ancient China. It was one of the V&A's early purchases of Chinese art through the good offices of Dr Stephen Wootton Bushell (1844-1908). Bushell was a physician by profession, but his 30-year-long residence in Beijing had made him a self-taught expert. He made several acquisitions on behalf of the V&A and in 1898 was commissioned by the Board of Education to write a comprehensive book on Chinese art, which has been reprinted several times. 

The ceramics Bushell selected on behalf of the Museum included blue-and-white and colour-enamelled wares which were fashionable in the late 19th century. But he did not overlook the more subtle monochromes which were, a few decades later, much appreciated by collectors and connoisseurs.