Cup with the Design of Fungus-shaped Cloud in Contrasting Colors

A piece of porcelain wares with decoration in contrasting colors (doucai) combines blue decoration beneath the glaze and polychrome decoration over the glaze. Vessels of this type are first fired at high temperature with outlines of the target patterns painted in cobalt blue pigment beneath the transparent glaze layer, then filled in with polychrome pigments over the glaze layer and re-fired at low temperatures. The cup displayed here has a thin and light body. Overglaze colors include red, yellow, and green. The cup is named after the round clouds patterns imitating the lingzhi fungus.