This moulded wine cup decorated with peony flowers and leaves is a variation of the 'magnolia blossom' cup. These cups comprised common relief decoration of plum blossoms on one side and leafy sprays on the other with magnolia blossoms sometimes making a rare appearance. They were exported to Europe from the late 17th century for the drinking of tea or chocolate, both of which became popular at the time.Dehua, located on the southeast coast of Fujian province, is well known for its production of white porcelain, known to Europeans as 'blanc de Chine'. The earliest Dehua porcelain was produced as early as the 14th century but the production and quality of these porcelain peaked around the 17th and 18th centuries.
