Show Off Your Pots and Cups VIII

[geeber1]

My brother sent me this really neat cup that he found in San Francisco's Chinatown. He said he thought of me and my tea "fetish."

To me the images look more Japanese than Chinese? I apologize for the multiple images, but the design goes all around the cup and lid and I wanted to show off the entire cup.





Edited because I noticed I had the same photo copied twice.

[chamekke]

I can't make out many details due to the photos' size, but to me this looks more Chinese than Japanese. For one thing, the women's sleeves are tubular. Japanese kimono sleeves are not. The collars look wrong for Japanese traditional clothing, too.

However, the design IS pretty and I think your brother has given you a very attractive cup!

[geeber1]

Thanks, Chamekke! I was just guessing based on the women's hairstyles, and that they were wearing kimonos or robes. Obviously I have a lot to learn about Asian culture!
I tried to get a better close-up of the writing, but my point-and-shoot camera is lacking in quality! I'm hoping to get a digital SLR sometime, maybe if we get lucky with a tax refund!

[Victoria]

It's pretty cute! Congrats! That was very sweet of him!

[chamekke]

geeber1, I found something similar. Here's a covered porcelain cup, explicitly described as Chinese, on Amazon.com:

Covered coffee cup / tea mug - chinese hand painted porcelain

The description reads:

The hand painted picture on this mug is a classic example of a Chinese style of painting called Jen-Wu or literally "people and things." Commonly it is an exercise in craft, color and technique but also it is an expression of Taoist philosophy. By paring the living with the inanimate the artist creates a harmony of what lives and what merely exists. This is a theme that can be found again and again in Chinese art as things with opposing energies are paired together to create balance. The lid has an intertwining design of flowers, which is a symbol of prosperity as bloom represents the fruits of the harvest.

I don't know about the jen-wu bit, but the image certainly reminded me of a particular classical Chinese style I'd seen before: with the robes very colourful and appearing almost to float. I think your mug is much prettier than the one on Amazon, though!

[geeber1]

Wow, thanks for the info, chamekke! I like this mug so much I might try to find some more like it. And I agree, mine's prettier!

[gingkoseto]

My brother sent me this really neat cup that he found in San Francisco's Chinatown. He said he thought of me and my tea "fetish."

To me the images look more Japanese than Chinese? I apologize for the multiple images, but the design goes all around the cup and lid and I wanted to show off the entire cup.





Edited because I noticed I had the same photo copied twice.

Ah! Nice cup. The details of the painting look very good. The women are from a famous classic novel "legend of stone". There are 12 women whose figures are frequently put on paintings and craft works. Your cup seems to have 3 of them.

The author of the book favored tea very much and mentioned tea for a few hundred times in this book

[geeber1]

Thanks gingko. I just thought it was a pretty cup, it's nice to know some of the background of it!

I just did a google search and couldn't find 'Legend of Stone.' Is it only in Chinese?

[Drax]

Thanks gingko. I just thought it was a pretty cup, it's nice to know some of the background of it!

I just did a google search and couldn't find 'Legend of Stone.' Is it only in Chinese?

Nifty! Can you get a closer-up picture of the script? Some of the characters look Japanese, but I can't tell at this resolution. . . that reminds me, I need to post a question in the Misc section about Asian myths and legends...

[gingkoseto]

take a look at the "Dream of the Red Chamber" on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber

I think this is what was alluded to as "Legend of Stone"

In any case, "Dream of the Red Chamber" is the source for lots of chinese imagery on porcelain, in paintings, scrolls, etc.

Yeah that's the other name of the same book

[geeber1]

Nifty! Can you get a closer-up picture of the script? Some of the characters look Japanese, but I can't tell at this resolution. . . that reminds me, I need to post a question in the Misc section about Asian myths and legends...

Drax, I'll try. It would be interesting to know what is says, if anything!

take a look at the "Dream of the Red Chamber" on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber

I think this is what was alluded to as "Legend of Stone"

In any case, "Dream of the Red Chamber" is the source for lots of chinese imagery on porcelain, in paintings, scrolls, etc.

Thanks, Tom, I'll check it out.

[geeber1]

Drax, here's a closer-up shot of the writing on my cup. I hope it's clear enough (the close-up function on my camera isn't that great) for you or anyone who can read it to maybe tell me what it says?

[Drax]

Drax, here's a closer-up shot of the writing on my cup. I hope it's clear enough (the close-up function on my camera isn't that great) for you or anyone who can read it to maybe tell me what it says?

Thanks for the close-up! But sadly this is way out of my league.

I don't see anything about the characters that look Japanese, so I would tend to say it's Chinese. The grass-writing style always throws me way off. I can only pick out a couple characters for sure (日 sun/day、言 word/say,、書 write、赤?? red)... i could pretend to see a character for grass, too.

Hopefully somebody will have much better skills than I do...!