Lot 3009. A doucai 'Grape' Cup, Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Period  (1723-1735); 8.5 cm., 3 3/8  in. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000 HKD. Lot sold 400,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's

delicately potted with deep translucent sides rising from a narrow straight foot to a slightly everted rim, the exterior painted with two pendant grapevines issuing from the rim, each with a gnarled trunk bearing ripe grapes partially concealed by broad serrated leaves and curling tendrils, all in fine underglaze-blue outlines and further enamelled in iron-red, yellow, aubergine and green, between a fillet at the rim and a triple-line border encircling the foot, the base inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua mark.