Stem cup

Bowl with double walls with four foliate panels where holy personages from the Taoist religion stand out in relief under bamboo leaves, framed by a fine rope of pearls that accentuates the lobed edge and is repeated in the interior. Partially translucid, it is covered with bluish glaze, described by the term qingbai (literally 'blue-white') and more recently, yingqing ('shadow-blue').

The piece comes from the kilns at Jingdezhen, that with the introduction of underglaze cobalt blue painting became the most outstanding centre for the manufacture of Chinese porcelain, a distinction that it has maintained to the present day.