A Chinese Toy or Miniature Coffee Cup and Tea Bowl, Qianlong, circa 1790
Made for export to Britain or North America during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, these Chinese toy or miniature porcelain tea and coffee wares are finely decorated with sepia and gilt designs. Both pieces are ‘pencilled’ in sepia camaïeu, using a very fine brush, often with a single hair. The scenes depict a large country house within a walled garden, beside a church. The tea bowl is decorated with an additional scene of a church beside a lone tree. Both pieces have a sepia border design of alternating grapes and vine leaves, complete with gilt tendrils. A smaller secondary border consists of a sepia wavy line and tiny gilt leaves. The moulded handle is also picked out with gilt leaves.
Provenance: The K.J. Allison Collection.
Condition: No cracks or restoration. There is a tiny flat nick inside the foot rim of the tea bowl. This is not visible from the outside. The sepia decoration is minutely detailed and in good order. There is some wear to the delicate gilt decoration, mainly to the rims and the vine tendrils.
Dimensions: Tea Bowl – Height 3.5 cm; Coffee Cup – Height 5.5 cm
The Mona Sattin Collection of Miniature Cups & Saucers (Stockspring, 2011).