The piece
A scene of visiting a friend through snow, with ink-wash snow landscape layered in washes. Fully hand-painted, one-of-a-kind, usable as a drinking cup.
Reading the snow
A snow walks across the cup: distant peaks keep white on their summits, near trees hang with jade, and a touch of ochre-red comes through the snow—a friend on his way. ‘Visiting a Friend in Snow’ is the oldest snow in literati painting: snow seals the road, but not the heart that goes to see a friend.
Yuan Jinming paints snow not by leaving blank space, but by painting it layer upon layer. Ink-wash divided tones, from dense to pale, give the snow thickness and a body’s warmth. The cup is hand-thrown and trimmed at Jingdezhen; the rim is clean, fitting a single comfortable hold in the palm.
The same brush intent, from his teacher Yan Yangping—whose ‘Visiting a Friend in Snow’ is in the permanent collection of the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. This cup is the echo of that lineage reaching today. Only one exists in the world; once sold, it is gone for good.
A mouth of 5.3 cm—just the host cup for one brew of gongfu tea. In winter by the stove, snow falls on the cup, tea steam rises from within—the snow is painted, the warmth is real.
From the studio
The same theme comes from his teacher Yan Yangping, whose ‘Visiting a Friend in Snow’ is in the permanent collection of the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression—the snow on this cup’s rim is that very brush lineage reaching the present.
Private enquiry
Each piece is painted entirely by hand, without moulds, and exists only once. The guide price in AUD is shown on this page. Current availability is confirmed by email before any arrangement is made.