Description
the central well decorated with peony blossom, within raised ridge decorated with ruyi head, broad frieze of continous peony flowers linked by scrolling tendrils, the scalloped border with fan shaped panels decorated with lotus flower sprays, within narrow border with continous scroll, the underside with cartouche bracket panels, the rim with Greek key frieze, the unglazed base with a pale orange wash
Dimensions
19.7 cm diameter, 2.5 cm high
Footnote
The British Museum have a very similar slightly smaller cup stand (19.4 cm diameter). The central flowerhead is different and more stylised. Another very similar stand is to be found in the Avery Brundage Collection (19.1 cm diameter).Cup stands of this type would have held a small straight sided cup with a slightly recessed base and a narrow foot. Both cups and stands decorated in underglaze blue have now been excavated in the Hongwu strata at Dongmentou, Zhushan, Jingdezhen. Copper underglaze is generally far less sucessful in the kiln and fewer examples survive. The clarity of the glaze in this example is good with little of the typical greying or fuzziness.