Cup with Cover
Unknown Artist
1780
Medium
White porcelain decorated with blue under the glaze, gold and colored enamels
Dimensions
H. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
Classification
Ceramics
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Charles Stewart Smith, 1893
Accession Number
93.3.253a, b
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Cup with Cover* from Edo period (1615–1868), around 1780, exemplifies the refined porcelain artistry of the time. Standing just 3 3/4 inches tall, its petite scale made it ideal for intimate rituals like tea drinking or serving, reflecting the era's vibrant urban culture and growing merchant class, who prized such elegant everyday objects. The cup's white porcelain body is adorned with blue decoration painted under the glaze—a durable technique borrowed from Chinese influences but perfected in Japanese kilns—then enhanced with vibrant colored enamels and gold accents applied o...