Lot 3023. A fine blue and white stemcup with 'Lança' characters, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1735-1796); 10 cm. 3 7/8  in. Estimate 400,000 — 600,000. Lot sold 1,096,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's

supported on a splayed hollow stem foot angled to the cup with steep sides rising from a flat base to a flared mouthrim, the exterior painted in bright cobalt tones with eight lança characters surrounded by an undulating stem of lotus issuing large flower-heads and curled acanthus leaves, the underside with petal lappets above bands of halved florets divided by a raised rib picked out with arrowheads, the stem skirted by ruyi-heads suspending interlinked tassels, the interior with a stylised peony medallion within a double-line border repeated at the rim, the interior of the foot inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark written in a horizontal line, wood stand.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20th May 1981, lot 746

Note: A closely related example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty, bk. II, Hong Kong, 1968, pl. 30; further examples include one sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27th October 2003, lot 687; and another sold in these rooms, 2nd May 2005, lot 653.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 Oct 2013