Lot 3630. A small doucai ‘Bamboo’ wine cup, Mark and Period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 6.5 cm.,  2 1/2  in. Estimate 1,000,000 — 1,500,000 HKD. Lot sold  2,320,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby’s

delicately potted with deep rounded sides rising from a short straight foot, the exterior intricately enamelled with a continuous scene of clusters of pale apple-green bamboo leaves issuing from pale lime-green bamboo shoots, some leaves highlighted at the tip with a faint brown accent, all the detail faintly outlined in underglaze blue, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double square.

Note: This charming cup, with delicate pencilled outlines in underglaze blue that have been filled with green enamel, is a particularly fine example of the simple yet elegant style of decoration highly favoured by the Yongzheng emperor. The craftsman has imbued the scene with a sense of naturalism, as though offering a snapshot of the scene, by extending and boldly cutting off the leafy branches at the rim. A pair of closely related cups, from the H.M. Langton collection, was included in the Oriental Ceramics Society exhibition The Arts of the Ch’ing Dynasty, London, 1964, cat. no. 198; another was sold in these rooms, 20th May 1977, lot 625; and a third pair was sold in our London rooms, 26th June 1973, lot 304.

Compare larger bowls decorated with this motif in doucai enamels, such as one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 22; two in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, one published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch’ing Dynasty Porcelain, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 91, and the other included in the Museum’s Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi. Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 45; and a fourth bowl, from the Goldschmidt collection, sold in these rooms, 13th November 1990, lot 34.

Sotheby’s. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 oct. 2014