Height: 2 inches, 5 cm
Width: 3 inches, 7.5 cm

Set of five porcelain cups

Japan, Arita, 18/19th century

A set of five porcelain cups, each decorated in the Chinese style with two dragons striding amongst cloud scrolls in vivid underglaze blue on a white ground. The interior base has a central flower head. The base has a four-character mark, reading ‘made in the Xuande period’.

Although these finely potted cups are made in the Chinese style and even have a Xuande mark on the base, they are definitely of Japanese manufacture and made at a kiln in Arita.