Lot 4055. A rare early Ming blue and white stem cup, dou, Xuande six-character mark in a line and of the period (1426-1435), 4 in. (10.2 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 1,200,000 - HKD 1,800,000. Price realised HKD 1,580,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The cup has a body of globular form standing on a flared foot, finely painted in bright tones of blue with a central frieze of dianthus borne of a leafy undulating stem, below a geometric band at the rim. The base of the cup and the flaring foot are decorated with bands of radiating petals bordered with bead designs. The interior is detailed with a lotus roundel, box.

Provenance: Previously sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 21 May 1984, lot 62 

Exhibited: Chinese Blue and White Porcelain and Related Underglaze Red, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong Exhibition, City Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 1975, Catalogue no. 14

Note: Other Xuande stem cups of this design are found in important museum and private collections. Compare with one in the Capital Museum, Beijing illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan Zang Ci Xuan, Beijing, 1991, pl. 96; another in the British Museum, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 5, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1981, no. 165; and one in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated loc. cit., vol. 6, no. 90. Examples sold at auction include one from the Edward T. Chow Collection sold at Christies Hong Kong, 30 October 1995, lot 697; and from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. R.H.R. Palmer at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 October 2000, lot 857; and one sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2010, lot 2621.

Stemmed bowl, Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period, AD 1426–35, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration. Height: 10,5 cm, Diameter: 8 cm. Bequeathed by Marjorie K Coldwell. Field Collection by Maj Hay, 1943,0215.12 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

Stemmed bowl with carnation scroll, Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period, AD 1426–35, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration. Height: 10,3 cm, Diameter: 9,8 cm. Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF A636 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

A fine and rare blue and white stemcup, Mark and period of Xuande (1426-1435), 10.5 cm., 4 1/8 in. Sold for 4,820,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2010, lot 2621. Photo: Sotheby's

A covered dou of this pattern from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Special Exhibition of Xuande Wares, Taipei, 1980, Catalogue no. 25.  

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 30 May 2012, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall