This small porcelain bird feeder has almost all the important feature of Xuande (1426-1435 AD) porcelain. Its body is made of very fine but slightly off-white clay that was from Ma Chan Hill that forms hard/strong porcelain after firing, and was used for making early Ming imperial wares. The glaze, especially that on the inner wall, has a bluish-green tint and is milky, unique for Xuande porcelain. Due to 600 years aging the glaze has lost the surface shine. Interestingly, the glaze on the outer wall was applied by blowing mist of the glaze suspension in water onto the wall, but that on the inner wall by brushing on, so that it is somewhat uneven. The underglaze cobalt blue is very intense without rusty crust; this type of blue was imported from Samara (Middle-East) and used for making the best imperial Xuande wares. The brushwork is also unique; a finer and softer brush was used, as compared to that of Yuan period. As a result the strokes are finer and not cutting into the moist pre-fire clay body. But the strokes are still quite coarse comparing to that of Chenghua and later period, when finer and softer brushes were used to draw fine lines and to wash the blue to fill the space. The most unusual thing about this feeder is that it is fired in an up-side-down position. This firing technique was used by Ding Kiln of Northern Song more than 400 years earlier, and had not been used by major kilns since then. The mark is very typical for Xuande kai shu mark. Having this rare bird-feeder in your hand, you can learn many features of Xuande porcelain. Ming emperors fed caged birds, often in their study rooms, for enjoying their companionship and their singings. Bird-feeders were such an important group of wares of Xuande that a picture of a similar one is shown in Gen Bao Chan’s book, photo 84, p.48. From Dr. Robert I-San Lin (#3009), a senior Chinese artwork appraiser, whose grandfather was a major Chinese antique merchant in early 1900s. (Dr. Lin’s bio, in Journal of Authentication of Artworks, 2015, available). Brought to California in 1960s. 9.3 x 3.6 x 5.0 cm; 47.06 grams.