A pair of small famille verte 'month' cups, Daoguang six-character marks and of the period. Photo:Bonhams.

Each cup delicately potted with thin sides rising to a gently everted mouth rim, the exterior intricately painted with narcissus flowers issuing from long leafy stems, growing amidst rockwork together with iron-red roses, the base with an Imperial underglaze-blue zhuanshu seal mark. Each: 6cm diam. (2). Estimate HK$ 450,000 - 550,000 (€43,000 - 52,000). Unsold

Notes: The current pair of Daoguang period famille verte month cups were originally inspired by the Kangxi prototypes. The Kangxi Emperor favoured the twelve month wine cups heavily, and had the Imperial kilns prepare full sets of twelve months wine cups in either wucai or doucaidecorations, coupled with carefully selected dedicatory poems and accompanying seasonal themes for each wine cup. The Emperor would taste the finest selection of wines using the appropriately-themed wine cups in concordance with the changing monthly seasons. The current lot represents the legacy of appreciation left behind by the Kangxi Emperor, showing the continuation of traditions and lifestyles practiced by future generations of the Imperial court.

Compare a rare and complete set of Kangxi famille verte twelve month wine cups, currently preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours. The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p.152, pl.140; and another housed in the Percival David Foundation, London, illustrated inIllustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1991, p.30, pl.815a-1.

Daoguang examples of these famille verte twelve month wine cups decorated with narcissus motifs are rare and hardly appear at auction. Compare a pair of rare examples dated to the Daoguang period, sold in Sotheby's London, 9 June 1992, lot 283; and again in Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2013, lot 3432.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, Hong Kong, Admiralty, 26 May 2014 - http://www.bonhams.com/