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Two Chinese Republican period (circa 1930's) Yixing pottery tea cups designed to simulate a gnarled tree trunk with branches for the handles. A simple, incised grass pattern with green pigment decorates the front of the lighter cup while the darker cup is incised with the two ideographs "quan" and "shui," or "spring water." A square seal is on the center of the base of each cup. The darker cup measures 2 5/8" height and diameter while the lighter cup stands 2 3/8" high by 3" diameter (excluding handles). They are both in very good overall condition with a nice aged patina from years of use. There are three tiny flea bites to the rim of the lighter cup (see enlargement 11). These cups are from the private collection of American expatriates who lived in Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s. Six examples of Yixing tea cups of this type (with side handles), dating from the early 19th century, can be found on plate 138, page 142, of "The K.S. Lo Collection in the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware,Part 2," Hong Kong, 1984. The seal on the lighter cup appears to match the Pingding Pottery Company, Shanxi, which is in the attribution on plate 268, page 207, for a tree trunk shaped teapot in the K. S. Lo collection.
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