Cup (2) - Porcelain - Jingdezhen

Description
Pair of porcelain cups from export Chinese porcelain, Jingdezhen, Qing dynasty, 18th century.

The exterior is entirely covered with a monochrome brown glaze of iron oxide, known as “café-au-lait,” “capucine” or Batavia brown — a decoration developed for the European market and disseminated by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) through its Batavia depot, present-day Jakarta, which gave its name to this type of production.

The interior is hand-painted in cobalt blue underglaze: a pavilion in a lakeside landscape framed by flowering prunus branches and fruiting vines running along the wall. The background features a blooming flower within a double circular border. The brushwork is free and confident, with blue washes characteristic of export painting from the first half of the 18th century.

The foot is unglazed, with a dense, creamy paste feel, showing the throwing irregularities and wood-fired kiln pinholes typical of period productions. No maker’s mark. Manually inscribed inventory tag under the foot.

Condition
Good overall condition for its age. One of the cups shows a tensile line in the base, regarded as an original firing defect rather than a crack. Light wear and small glaze specks on the body. No restoration. Sold without saucers.