Imperial Yellow Cup, China

Imperial yellow goblet
China
19th-20th century
Diameter 8 cm, height 10 cm

Goblet with yellow glaze, engraved five-clawed imperial dragon and apocryphal mark of the Qing Emperor Guangxu (1875-1908) in underglaze blue chancel script without double circle. Emperor Guangxu was treated practically like a prisoner by his stepmother Cixi, who reigned until he came of age and kept the reins of power even after that. When she began to give his imperial porcelain as gifts to favourites at weddings, it became very fashionable to have court china on the wedding table, which soon led to a flood of forgeries. This trend continued during the Republic period, after 1911, so that today Guangxu porcelain is one of the most forged, but many copies actually date from his reign.