The White Porcelain Beneath the Weave
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The bamboo draws attention, but the porcelain beneath it determines the cup’s form, its drinking surface, and the outline the weaving follows.
For the Daily Cup, we considered those practical details alongside the appearance of the two materials together.
Why white?
White porcelain has a long-standing place in Sichuan’s tradition of porcelain-body bamboo weaving. Descriptions of the traditional craft document fine bamboo strands woven closely around white porcelain vessels. Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage
The Daily Cup continues that pairing.
White provides a clear background for the bamboo’s colour and woven pattern. Natural creates a lighter contrast; Baked brings a deeper, warmer tone. Each gives the same porcelain form a different character.
We kept the porcelain free of additional decoration. The exposed area above the weave gives the bamboo a defined boundary, leaving the individual strands and the pattern they form easy to see.
Porcelain from Dehua
The Daily Cup’s porcelain is made in Dehua, in China’s Fujian province.
Dehua’s white porcelain is known internationally as Blanc de Chine, French for “white from China.” Its pale colour and lustrous surfaces attracted collectors abroad, with white wares reaching Europe through maritime trade during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. V&A: Blanc de Chine
For the Daily Cup, we selected yangzhiyu white porcelain for its softly lustrous finish alongside the more pronounced texture of bamboo.
The name refers to a resemblance to fine white jade. It describes the porcelain’s appearance; the material itself is porcelain, not jade.
When backlit, the exposed porcelain shows translucency. This offers a different view of the material from its appearance in ordinary daylight.
A form for the weave to follow
The porcelain is hand-thrown, trimmed by hand, and hand-glazed, then fired at approximately 1,300°C. Fine bamboo strands are subsequently woven directly around the finished cup in Chengdu.
Because the weaving follows an existing form, an even contour and a smooth finish are among the qualities we look for. The close fit, transitions, and concealed joins also depend on the maker’s handling of the bamboo.
You can see that relationship at the upper edge of the weave, where the strands finish against the exposed porcelain.
As you lift the cup, the distinction becomes tactile: fine woven texture beneath your fingers, smooth glaze where your lips meet the rim.
On the table
Between uses, the cup remains part of its surroundings.
From a little distance, you see the white rim and the band of bamboo around the body. Closer up, that band resolves into individual strands, with small variations in tone and weave.
Beside wood, linen, or the paper of an open book, it adds a compact area of colour and pattern. The unadorned porcelain gives the woven detail room to stand out without making the whole object visually busy.
Its decorative character comes from those materials and proportions: the soft lustre of the glaze, the warmth of the bamboo, and the line where they meet.