A rare pair of small lemon-yellow-enameled wine cups, Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze-blue within circles and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate $40,000 – $60,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Each cup is delicately potted with a deep semi-ovoid body raised on a small ring foot, and is covered on the exterior with enamel of lemon-yellow color in contrast to the white interior. 2 in. (5.1 cm.) diam.

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 7 January 1972.

Notes: A similar pair of cups in the Percival David Foundation is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Japan, 1983, p. 203, no. 292, and another pair by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, p. 240, no. 908. One from a pair in the Baur Collection is illustrated with a matching saucer by J. Ayers in The Baur Collection, vol. III, Geneva, 1972, nos. A 489-492. See, also, a similar Yongzheng-marked cup illustrated by Peter Lam in Shimmering Colours, Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods, The Zhu Yue Tang Collection, Art Museum, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005, 209, no. 133. A set of five similar Yongzheng-marked cups is illustrated inImperial Perfection: The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors, Kangxi - Yongzheng - Qianlong, A Selection of Porcelain from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 246-47, no. 98.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 17 - 18 September 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza