The use of this small vessel is still uncertain. It has been suggested, such vessels were used as brush-washers or perhaps even as pickle trays. It was probably made in a peach-shaped mould with leafy decoration and the three small legs would have been added afterwards. The peach, a symbol of longevity, was a popular motif during the mid-late Ming dynasty (1368-1644), when the quest for immortality by Emperors such as Jiajing (1522-1566) was at its height. Larger peach-shaped cups from Dehua and Yixing were eagerly imitated by European potters when such vessels were exported from China in the early 18th century.Dehua, located on the southeast coast of Fujian province, is well known for its production of white porcelain, known to Europeans as 'blanc de Chine'. The earliest Dehua porcelain was produced as early as the 14th century but the production and quality of these porcelain peaked around the 17th and 18th centuries.
