Lot 37. A rare famille rose 'Tang Ying' 'landscape' cup, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 11cm (4 1/4in) wide (2). Estimate HK$600,000 - 800,000 (US$77,000 - 100,000). Sold for HK$ 750,000 (€81,230). Photo: Bonhams.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27 April 2003, lot 177
A distinguished Asian private collection

Note: The cup is inscribed on the reverse with a poem composed by the celebrated supervisor of the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, Tang Ying (1682-1756). The inscription is written in xingshu or cursive script and may be translated as follows:

In the depth of the water,
shadows of the clouds reflect each other.
The sound of the stream,
can be heard coming from beyond the village.

The poem is a version of a composition by the Song dynasty neo-Confucian philosopher Cheng Hao (1032-1085), also known as one of the 'Six Masters of Northern Song' for their philosophical contributions. In the third line, Tang Ying cleverly replaced the first character lin trees, with cun, villages or village houses to reflect the countryside scenery elegantly enamelled on the present cup.

The cup belongs to a very small group of Imperial quality porcelain which is associated with Tang Ying, the influential superintendent of the Imperial kilns between 1726-1756, serving both the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors. Considered to be the most innovative and talented figure in China's porcelain industry during the Qing dynasty, Tang Ying was also regarded as a competent potter, painter, calligrapher and art connoisseur. His experience and insight into the challenges of porcelain production allowed him to make essential changes in the structure of the factory and brought technical improvement and artistic innovation to the production, made to highly exacting standards.

The seal reading pianyue or 'crescent moon' on the upper right corner, followed by the poem, and the two iron-red seals reading tao zhu at the end of the poem were pseudonyms used by Tang Ying to sign his poetic inscriptions on porcelain; see Geng Baochang, 'Tan Tang Ying kuan de ciqi ji qita' (A discussion on Tang Ying marked porcelain), Jingdezhen taoci, Jingdezhen, 1982, no.2; and a further discussion by P.Y.K.Lam, 'Tang Ying (1682-1756): The Imperial Factory Superintendent at Jingdezhen', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol.63, 1998-1999, p.65.

For similar examples by Tang Ying with pianyue or tao zhu seal marks in public collections, see a celadon-glazed famille rose bamboo-shaped brush pot, Qianlong, in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Geng Baochang, ming qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p.291, no.497; and another brush pot decorated in sepia enamel, in the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, illustrated by P.Y.K.Lam, ibid., fig.5. Compare also a coral-ground famille rose 'Tang Ying' bowl, also unmarked and with iron-red pianyue and tao zhu seal marks, illustrated in Sotheby's Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, p.314, pl.355, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1921. Compare also the related landscape decoration on a lantern-shaped vase with an inscription by Tang Ying, early Qianlong period, illustrated by J.Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pp.236-239, no.101.

A fine and very rare coral-ground famille rose 'Tang Ying' bowl, Qianlong cyclical yihai date, corresponding to 1755 and of the period. Sold for HK$9,620,000 ($1,247,205) at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1921. © Christie's Images Ltd 2009

Cf.  my post: A fine and very rare coral-ground famille rose 'Tang Ying' bowl, Qianlong cyclical yihai date, 1755 and of the period

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 28 Nov 2017, 14:00 HKT -HONG KONG, ADMIRALTY