Lot 3. A rare pair of lemon-yellow cups, Marks and period of Yongzheng.  diameter 5 cm., 2 in. Estimate 2,000,000-3,000,000 HKD. Unsold Photo Sotheby's

each delicately thrown with translucent sides of deep conical shape resting on a straight foot, covered on the exterior with a vibrant lemon-yellow enamel, the interior and base left white, the base further inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a single ring;

PROVENANCE: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London (A 567b and d).
Sotheby's London, 15th October 1968, lot 129.

EXHIBITED: Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, The British Museum, London, 1994.
Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/ Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 190.

LITTERATURE: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 908.

NOTE: Out of four lemon-yellow cups of this form of Yongzheng mark and period in the Sir Percival David Collection, one pair (the present cups) was sold at Sotheby's in 1968 (nos. A 567 b and d), and a second pair (nos. A 567 a and c) still remains in the British Museum, London, today. The latter pair is recorded in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, rev. ed., London, 1989, p. 39, and illustrated in John Ayers and Sat Masahiko, eds, Sekai tji zensh / Ceramic Art of the World, vol. XV: Shin/ Ch'ing Dynasty, Tokyo, 1983, col. pl. 292; one of another pair of cups is illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, vol. II, pl. 331; and a single cup of this design from the Jingguantang collection was sold at Christie's New York, 20th March 1997, lot 101

Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection, Part III - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains. Hong Kong | 04 Apr 2012, 10:15 AM