Lot 3100. A fine and rare blue and white 'Prunus Tree' month cup, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 6.4 cm, 2 1/2  in. Estimate 500,000 - 700,000 HKD. Lot sold 750,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's 2013.

delicately potted of deep 'U'-shape with flared rim and a short straight foot, painted on one side in soft shades of underglaze blue with a prunus tree's two gnarled branches bearing white blossoms, with some small shoots rising from the ground, a tall rock behind, a clump of narcissus and another low rock to one side, and a younger flowering tree on the other, representing the eleventh month, the reverse inscribed with a poem relating to the flowering tree in front, followed by the seal shang ('to appreciate'), the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within double circles.