A white sgraffiato-ground famille-rose 'eight immortals' tea bowl and cover, Seal marks and period of Daoguang 清道光 白地軋道粉彩八仙紋蓋盌 《大清道光年製》款

The form of this piece, with its cover that sits inside the rim of the bowl, appears to have been favoured in the Qing dynasty. It allowed the tea leaves to be caught against the edge of the cover when the tea was sipped with the cover carefully held in place using the ring knop. During the Qing, many of the tea traditions that were established by the Hongwu Emperor (1368-1398) of the Ming dynasty were continued, such as the use of tea leaves rather than tea cakes or ground tea. While many of the utensils did not change as a result, a greater assortment of shapes and designs evolved with the flourishing porcelain production and stylistic trends of the time. Compare a Qianlong mark and period sgraffiato decorated white-ground bowl enamelled with dragons and phoenix in iron red, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 332

此類蓋略小於盌之式，似乎流行於清代。呷茶時，只須輕按蓋鈕，茶葉即聚於蓋沿而不隨茶水流出。清代品茶之法，依明洪武所訂傳統，如用茶葉而非茶餅、茶末等，故此清代茶具與洪武大致相近，但隨著清代瓷藝蓬勃發展，風格更趨華麗精緻，其器形、紋飾變得更為多樣。參考北京故宮博物院收藏一乾隆白地錦上添花礬紅彩龍鳳紋例，載於《故宮珍藏康雍乾瓷器圖錄》，香港，1995年，頁332。