Chocolate cup

The cup is complete; there are slight defects on the top. It is cylindrical in shape, with a straight wall and a straight rim at the corrugated top. The base of the wall curves towards the bottom, which is flat. It rests on a small, rounded foot ring. The underside of the base is recessed and flat. The foot is beveled and free of glaze. It is fitted with two vertical handles with circular cross-sections; their lower end has a small tail. There are flaws in the glaze of the inner base; the decoration covers the outer face of the cup, as well as the inner rim and handles. The decoration is plant-like, treated in Imari. The decoration is molded and hand-painted in two-tone blue underglaze, then traced and painted in iron red, with gold highlights, over glaze. The molded decoration can be seen on the wall, which is decorated with vertical grooves on the outside that become rounded ribs on the inside. The handles have been molded separately: the outside is fluted. On the inside of the cup, there is a fillet traced in red under the inner rim. The external decoration is visible below the rim and on the wall. Under the rim, it is repeated on opposite sides. It consists of a wavy fillet, which borders various motifs, including two rolled and inclined scrolls. The blue-painted decoration is covered in red with gold highlights, making it difficult to identify. Both sides are decorated with a few leafy and flowery stems, outlined and painted in blue, while the wall on either side of the handles is decorated with a small leaf outlined and painted in blue. The outside of the handles is decorated with a plant stem traced in blue. As for the red, it forms wavy areas underlined by gilding on the outer rim. Flowers and numerous stems, traced and painted in red, some with veins and others with gilding, occupy the outer wall, right down to the foot. The face of the handles is covered with a plant stem traced in gold, while golden beads adorn their sides. The top of the outer rim is adorned with a fillet of gilding.