Cup with two handles, one of a pair

Incised ornaments were commonly seen on Qing monochrome-glazed ware, as in this case, the refined lines forming dragonets on the handles. The bright yellow, described as ginger yellow in Qing text books, was the characteristic Kangxi yellow glaze, seen mostly in table sets and tea sets. The shape, with handles in an archaic form, was made in a set, used with a dish-shaped tray for tea, as shown by a comparable green-glazed example from the Beijing Palace Museum collection (Palace Mus. 1989: 162-4). The eggshell-thin body displays the remarkable control of a skilled potter.