The “Chupu” is a covered jar with no handles or side knobs. It is also referred to as “Katmau” or “Himcheng”. This piece carries the shop mark “Cheng Yi Tai zao”. This piece has steep walls, a tapering base and a wide mouth with a bevelled rim. A high domed cover is fitted over it with an inverted emerald green conical finial. The cover and body are decorated with a rose pink quatrefoil medallion enclosing a phoenix with a green, scaly body in flight and a rose pink peony spray. This is set against a bright yellow background, which is considered an auspicious colour by the Peranakans. The phoenix is an auspicious symbol that represents beauty, grace, high virtue, the bride and the empress. At the same time, peonies symbolise spring, love, beauty and good fortune. Symbols from the Eight auspicious Buddhist Emblems with trailing ribbons on a rose pink background decorate the mouth of the jar and the rim of the cover. The base of the piece is decorated with stylised lotus petals in pink and yellow. The Chupu could have been used as a food container and also used for double boiling foods such as herbal soups. As the third type of important ware used in Peranakan Chinese wedding ceremonies, it could have been used to contain delicacies symbolic of marital harmony, such as bird’s nest soup.
