SENCHA CUP, White porcelain, set of 8, Ming Dynasty（1368–1644CE）

This is a set of eight white porcelain sencha cups, fired during the Ming dynasty. The bowls are modest in scale, with rims that flare gently outward and small, drawn-in footrings, presenting an overall simple and restrained profile.

The body has a faint gray cast, and the glaze displays a soft, milky-white tone. The glaze is thin and uniformly applied; on the interior there are areas of glaze pooling and slight wrinkling, directly reflecting the kiln’s fluctuating heat. The inner foot remains unglazed, bearing marks and a residual roughness from upside-down firing, which attest to the workshop’s firing methods of the period.

White porcelain of the Ming dynasty was produced in various centers, notably at the Dehua kilns, and these plain small bowls brought to Japan were used within the sencha culture that spread during the Edo period. Their unadorned forms and the serene quality of the white glaze likely resonated with the literati’s refined sense of purity.

Among the eight cups, a few bear small chips and hairline cracks; these traces on the serene surface of the white porcelain do not diminish the vessels’ presence. Rather, they lend an evocative quality that invites tea, exuding an air of refinement acquired over many years.