Rice wine and plum wine were among the popular beverages consumed in China during the Tang dynasty. They were usually served warm from bottles. Stands like this were used to hold drinking cups used for the hot wine. The sharp profile of this cup stand suggests the influence of metal prototypes in the design. Approximately 300 pieces of white wares were excavated from the Tang shipwreck, a 9th-century vessel en route from China to the Middle East when it sank off the coast of Belitung Island in the Java Sea. Chinese white wares like this cup were immensely desirable, both within China and abroad during the Tang dynasty. Their popularity abroad is evident from discoveries throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East. These white wares were generally made at the Xing kilns in northern China. They were named after Xingzhou, in southern Hebei, where they were made. The pure white body is a result of the combination of the makeup of the clay and firing it at high temperature. The glossy white appearance was often likened to silver and snow.
