A sancai-glazed pottery tea set, Tang dynasty 唐 三彩茶器一組七件

Sancai-glazed sets of cups and circular trays are believed to be used in funerary tea rituals. A closely related set with six cups in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Lü Chenglong, ed., Ceramics Gallery of the Palace Museum Vol. I The Neolithic Period to Five Dynasties, Beijing, 2021, pl. 158.

Compare also similar sets without the central jar, including one with nine cups from the Idemitsu Collection illustrated in The 15th Anniversary Catalogue, Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1981, no. 616 and another with six cups from the Arthur M. Sackler collection, sold in Christie's New York, 19th September 2014, lot 716.

此類成組之三彩盃及圓盤，相信乃屬明器，用於喪禮儀式。比較北京故宮博物院收藏一套六盃作例，圖載呂成龍編，《故宮陶瓷館·卷一·新石器時代至五代》，北京，2021 年，圖版158。

另可比較數套盃盤作例，無罐，一套九盃例現為日本出光美術館收藏，圖載於《開館15周年記念図録》，出光美術館，東京，1981年，編號616，以及一套六盃作例，Arthur M. Sackler 收藏，售於紐約佳士得2014 年 9 月 19 日，編號 716。