Handmade Chinese Tea Set Red Rice Eye Design Gold Trim (Pot, Cups, Bowls)

  

Set is in excellent vintage condition as shown. This porcelain rice grain tea set requires use of a technique that Chinese scholars believe to have begun sometime during the Sui or Tang dynasty. The translucent rice grain motif within the porcelain is exquisite and allows light to pass through the porcelain -- visually stunning. "Rice grain" is the name of the technique rather than actual rice grains.

"Rice eyes" is another name for this. The technique involves wet clay that is first formed into a crude cup or plate on the potter's wheel. After the piece is dried for several hours or for a day, it is carefully scraped with a special kind of knife which conforms to the curvature of the vessel. The next step is to cut in the rice kernel-shaped holes.

This is done by a skilled potter, who uses a small, flexible steel lancet. The pottery is then dipped into or painted with up to thirty applications of clear glaze, until all the holes are filled.

Each teacup and rice bowl's interior center is an underglaze chrysanthemum flower mound with gilding on some of the leaves surrounded by a triple blue circular border with stenciled red and gold enamel single shou symbols inside the circle. The underglaze upper rim inner border is a bat and I-ching symbol fret motif. On the exterior, rice grains are outlined in red enamel surrounded by stenciled scrolls and flowers applied with gold and green enamels; the underglaze basal rim border has a radial leaf pattern with gilding. Unique two finger lid design. 1.5 in bottom diameter.

Rice bowls: Set of 4.