Pair qing dynasty DouCai porcelain Tea Cups

This is an original pair tea cups which was firstly created in Qing Dynasty of China. Its inside wall is covered with pure white glaze. The outside with decoration in contrasting colors (doucai) are first fired at high temperature with outlines of the target patterns painted in cobalt blue pigment beneath the transparent glaze layer, then filled in with polychrome pigments over the glaze layer and re-fired at low temperature. The motif on the cup displayed here includes three fruits--peach-chayote -lichee. At the cup bottom it says «Da Qing Yong Zheng Nian Zhi».

The contrasting color (Doucai) design integrates underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze enamels. First, the cobalt blue pigment is applied to the unadorned body of the vessel as a rough sketch, then applied with a clear glaze and fired at a high temperature. The verglaze enamels are then applied on top and the vessel is fired again at a low temperature.

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