These tea cups were bought in a market in Singapore. Can anyone give us any information on them? The bottom seems particularly interesting. Thanks for any information.
Hi Stuart, This looks modern to me. The mark says Yongle (of the Ming dynasty), but almost everything is not right for an antique.
The interior decoration seems to be imitating a decoration popular in the Ming dynasty, which is normally found on the outside, but it it doesn't resemble it enough to be convincing. Also, if this were Ming, the red color would either be underglaze red, which is darker, or a red which almost always is scratched or rubbed off in parts, not that perfect. The outer decoration is very unlikely for the Ming dynasty too, especially the lower part with the stripes. And, the bottom doesn't look like Ming either. The whole glaze and decoration show no age signs at all, which it should if it were antique. All in all a more recent product.
