MING DYNASTY CHENGHUA DOUCAI PAIR OF CHICKEN CUPS
Ming Dynasty marked and period Chenghua doucai Chicken cups. This finely potted and painted doucai cups are one motif of Chenghua doucai Chicken cup which there are several. The doucai painting style is under glaze blue filled in with enamels. The Chenghua potters brought the doucai style wares to a level of contrasting colors that has not been matched since. The Chenghua potters use of contrasting color is very distinct they used soft and bold color that was thought out and well place. These Cups are a good examples how the Chenghua potters made everything fit and flow with levels, texture, depth and motion in their often whimsical free style of painting. Others tried to duplicate Chenghua doucai but failed by not thinking of the whole picture they would just place their color randomly without any thought. They fail because they did not have the same mind set or spirit of the Chenghua potters long ago, almost as if they could not see the forest through the trees. The base has the six character Chenghua mark in a double square. The fine glaze is smooth, glossy, with a whitish tint and seems to take on the color of the biscuit which is typical of most Chenghua wares. The foot has been thinly wiped over with the glaze although there is flaking in the biscuit. The rich blue color has the blackish tone of sumali blue cobalt and this was mixed with pingdeng domestic cobalt. Many collector believe Chenghua doucai to be the pinnacle of this style for good reasons. Measures 3 3/8 inches 8.55 cm diameter