Lot 68. A rare famille verte 'Month' cup, Kangxi six-character mark within a double circle in underglaze blue and of the period (1662-1722). Hauteur: 5 cm. (2 in.). Estimate EUR 5,000 - EUR 7,000. Price realised EUR 10,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

De forme légèrement évasée, elle est ornée à l'extérieur et sur un côté d'un grenadier en fleur, symbolisant le cinquième mois. L'autre côté est agrémenté d'un couplet poétique: luse zhulianying; xiangfeng fenbizhe, terminant avec une marque en cachet Shang ; restauration. 

Note: This small, exceptionally thinly potted cup is from one of the imperial sets of wine cups depicting the Flowers of the Twelve Months. A complete set of twelve month cups in the collection of The Percival David Foundation is illustrated by R. Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration - Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, The Percival David Foundation, London/Singapore, 1992, p. 113, no. 122. 

Each of these cups was decorated in a particularly finely painted version of the wucai palette, with rocks and clumps of grass painted in a soft underglaze blue, while the majority of the decoration is rendered in overglaze famille verte enamels.  

The status of these cups can perhaps be judged by the fact that at the end of the inscription, which accompanies the flower painting on each cup, there is an underglaze blue seal character which reads: shang. This character may be translated as 'enjoy', for example to enjoy or appreciate the flowers. However, in this context it is more probable that it should be translated as 'reward', with the implication of being bestowed by a superior (in this case the emperor) as a reward for meritorious service.