19th C. Chinese Export Nanking Covered Syllabub Cup #1

Chinese export porcelain blue and white covered cup, c. 1800 - 1850.
 
Dimensions: Approximately 2½” diameter x 3¼” tall (including the lid).
 
Decoration:  
The lid has a berry-from knop.
 
The rim of the lid has a Nanking style shaded trellis, spearhead, and dumbbell border rather, than the typical Canton rain and cloud border.
 
The scene on the lid and body consists of a pavilion, a bridge with a figure holding an umbrella – also typical of the Nanking style, fishing and other boats, mountains, and houses. 
 
The handle is intertwined.
 
The base is unmarked.
 
Syllabub cups can be roughly divided into two periods of manufacture based on the design. Early to mid-19th century cups, such as this one, have intertwined handles and berry-form knops. Later cups have simple loop handles and ball knops.
 
Syllabub, sometimes spelled “sillabub”, was a drink or dish of sweetened milk or cream mixed with wine, cider, or the like.
 
Examples of this type of cup are shown in Gail & Rich Mellin’s 2015 book “Collecting Canton” on page 73, Jane Wilson’s 1977 booklet “Canton for the Collector” on page 16, and in Herbert Schiffer’s 1975 book “Chinese Export Porcelain” on page 131.
 
For a discussion of Nanking and Canton scenes and borders see Madsen & White, “Chinese Export Porcelains” (2009), and Forbes, “Hills and Streams: Landscape Decoration on Chinese Export Blue and White Porcelain” (1982). 
 
Condition: Frit on cover rim; otherwise in excellent condition consistent with age and usage.