Blue Plum Blossom Porcelain Teacup - 75ml

Name: Blue Plum Blossom Porcelain Teacup - 75ml
Brand: Bifū Ceramics
SKU: US-T224
Price: 18.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Bifū Ceramics

$18.00

This porcelain Mino-yaki yunomi (tea cup) has a classic shape and is decorated with blue and white plum blossoms. The pure white of porcelain lets you see the true colour of the tea. This classic combination of white porcelain and blue painting is called sometsuke (染付) in Japan, and was famously popularised in Ming dynasty Chinese wares.

Cups of this size and shape are also called senchawan (煎茶碗 - sencha cups) as they are ideal for drinking sencha.

Sometsuke (染付) is the general Japanese term for what is known as 'blue-and-white' ware in English, and typically refers to porcelain wares with cobalt-blue decorations applied under the glaze. This style became popular in 13th century Jingdezhen porcelain and later spread throughout Asia. In Japan, this style is particularly popular in Arita-yaki porcelain.

While by far the most popular style in mainland China throughout the Ming Dynasty, these wares were not popular for use as tea bowls in Japan, where the older and rarer celadons and tenmoku were initially preferred.