Made in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province or Fujian province, China, in late Ming or early Qing Dynasty.  ‘Minyao’ porcelain (‘people’s kiln’, which was utilitarian provincial ware also known as `kitchen Ming/Qing` ware) was usually exported to Southeast Asian countries, which was an important market for Chinese ceramics since the Northern Song period. Underglaze cobalt blue lotus decoration with scrolling vine design on the exterior and the interior with a dash border, blue lines and a central linzhi mushroom decoration. Two cups have a drilled owner’s mark inside done with a tozi bow drill. All cups have a red wax Chinese customs seal on the base. One got dislodged (now held in place with blutack as I did not want to glue it back on) when I was taking photographs and this allowed me to take a photograph of the blue mark on the base. These marks on the base were usually the maker’s mark. A nice little collection od early Chinese porcelain, very charming in their simplicity. You wonder who the owners were…

Cups measure approx. 3.3 cm height x 6.7cm diameter at the rim.