Chinese porcelain tea bowl and saucer, mark "Elegantly made like beautiful jade", Kangxi.

Chinese eggshell porcelain tea bowl and saucer decorated in underglaze cobalt blue (qinghua) with standing ladies and flowers, base with a four character commendation mark reading “Elegantly made like beautiful jade”, c. 1700, Kangxi reign, Qing dynasty, d. 10 cm, 4 in. 1-16312

Illustrated:

• Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, by A. Varela Santos, 2018/2019, cat. 28;

• The Hong Kong Museum has a pair of similar tea bowls but without saucers.

◆ In this cup and saucer the decoration is typically Chinese in motif, style and meaning. This style conquered the European market and gave birth to the Chinoiserie, a decorative style in furniture, painting and architecture that was in vogue throughout the 18th century.
The tall and elongated figures of ladies seen in the pieces of this period were called in the Netherlands “Lange Lijs” and in England “long Eliza”, typifying the oriental mystery and desire for the Chinese porcelain. Kings, the aristocracy and the emerging middle classes were eager to show off their wealth and status with the purchase and display of Chinese porcelain. Porcelain rooms were created where the walls (and sometimes ceilings) were covered with porcelain from China and Japan of all shapes, sizes and decorations.

中國蛋殼瓷青花仕女花卉圖茶盌及茶托，碗底書 “美玉雅制” 四字款，約1700年，清康熙，直徑10釐米，4英吋。

圖示：《中國陶瓷及工藝精品》，作者阿.瓦瑞拉.山度士，編號28。

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◆ 從圖案，風格和意義上來說，此套盃碟的紋飾都是非常典型的中國紋飾。這種式樣曾一度征服了歐洲市場，進而產生了中國風。中国風格主要運用在家居，繪畫和建築上，在整個18世紀中獨領風騷。這個時代的器物中常見非常修長及優雅的仕女形象，在尼德蘭，她們被稱為“Lange Lijs”，在英國她們 又被称為“long Eliza”，她們代表了神秘的東方以及人們對中國瓷器的渴望。國王，貴族和興起的中 產階級們曾通過購買和展示中國瓷器來急切炫耀他們的財富和地位。他們的瓷器室四壁（有时甚至是天花板）都掛滿了來自中國和日本各式各樣的瓷器。