Lot 125. A famille-verte 'Prunus' month cup, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 2 1/2  in., 6.5 cm. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000. Lot sold 18,750 USD. © Sotheby's.

finely potted with deep rounded sides rising from a short foot to a flared rim, the exterior delicately enameled with prunus trees growing beside rockwork, the reverse inscribed in underglaze blue with a poem reading suyan xueningshu, qingxiang fengmanzhi ('its simple beauty is that of a tree frozen with snow, its branches moving in the wind are full of a clear fragrance'), followed by a seal mark reading shang ('to appreciate'), the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Sotheby's Olympia, 13th November 2003, lot 429.