Doucai

Last July, collector Liu Yiqian purchased the “Meiyintang Collection Ming Dynasty Chenghua Imperial Chicken Cup” for HK$280 million and, in his excitement, used it to take a sip of Pu'er tea. This most expensive sip of tea in history has been the subject of much discussion. "The emperor's wine goblet, the tycoon's teacup." Today we will talk about this priceless "Chicken Cup." The Chicken Cup was originally an exquisite wine vessel and served as the personal wine cup of the Ming Dynasty Chenghua Emperor. It has a flared rim, shallow belly, and a splayed foot. The cup is decorated with a doucai painting of roosters, hens, and chicks, interspersed with rocks, orchids, and peonies, hence the name Chicken Cup. The doucai Chicken Cup from the Ming Chenghua period once enjoyed great fame. Every dynasty during the Qing era produced imitations, with those made during the Kangxi and Yongzheng reigns being the best, almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The Qing dynasty author Zhu Yan wrote in his book Ceramics Lore: "The best products of the Cheng kiln were the five-colored wares, and among wine cups, the Chicken Cup was the finest. During the reign of the Wanli Emperor, a single…

 Tea ware, also known as tea utensils or tea apparatus in ancient times. The Tang Dynasty litterateur Pi Rixiu wrote in his poem “Cpu Family Forest Pavilion” about "the sparse osmanthus shadows moving over the tea ware." During the Song Dynasty, emperors gave "tea ware" as gifts. The Northern Song painter Wen Tong wrote in a poem, "Only with tea ware to appreciate the utmost seclusion." In the Yuan Dynasty, the painter Wang Mian wrote in the "Flute Playing Out of the Gorge" poem, "Wine pot and tea ware on top of the boat." Xu Ze, one of the four great painters known as the "Four Talents of Wu" during the early Ming Dynasty, wrote when inviting friends for evening tea and drinking, "Tea ware is still set up late at night; song pots are not knocked upon when sober." It is not difficult to see that whether poets from the Tang and Song dynasties or painters from the Yuan and Ming dynasties, their writings often contain verses about "tea ware," indicating that it is an integral part of tea culture. Within its narrow definition, tea ware refers to tea cups, teapots, tea bowls, tea cups, tea saucers, and tea…