A doucai wine cup, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)

9 octobre 2019

A doucai wine cup, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)

Lot 3014. A doucai wine cup, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 7.2 cm, 2 7/8 in. Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,500,000 HKD (190,995 - 318,325 USD). Lot Sold 2,125,000 HKD (270,576 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

well potted with rounded sides resting on a straight foot, the exterior painted with four floral medallions, each comprising a yellow, iron-red and purple chrysanthemum flowerhead wreathed by stylised leafy scrolls, all divided by stylised lotus sprays, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double square.

Provenance: Collection of Henry and Beatrice Goldschmidt.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13th November 1990, lot 33..

Note: Meticulously painted with roundels of chrysanthemum flowers separated by lotus sprays, this charming cup is a testament of the Yongzheng Emperor’s penchant for classic styles of the past. Its fine and thinly potted body, smooth and tactile glaze, and its delicate motif were inspired by prototypes of the Chenghua reign (1465-87), which were especially treasured by the Yongzheng Emperor. Compare a Chenghua mark and period reconstructed cup with roundels of chrysanthemums, recovered from the Chenghua stratum at the site of the imperial kiln factory in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, and illustrated in Imperial porcelains from the Reign of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty II, Beijing, 2016, pl. 179.

Yongzheng mark and period cups painted with this motif are held in important museums and private collections worldwide: a closely related cup in the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in Ye Peilan, Beauty of Ceramics: Gems of Doucai, vol. 6, Taipei, 1993, pl. 102, together with one in the Capital Museum, Beijing, pl. 96; a pair is illustrated in Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, cat. no. 51; and a cup in the Ise collection, was included in the exhibition The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 75. Further examples were sold at auction, such as a pair from the Edward T. Chow collection, sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 132.