Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 26 November 2014
A rare Ming-style doucai 'Chicken' cup, Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Lot 3302. A rare Ming-style doucai 'Chicken' cup, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 1,000,000 - HKD 1,500,000. Price realised HKD 1,240,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2014.
The cup is finely potted with thin rounded sides, delicately painted to the exterior with a continuous scene depicting cockerels, hens and chicks beside flowers and rocks, set between a double-line border around the mouth rim and a single line above the foot. The base bears an apocryphal six-character Chenghua mark within a double square.
Note: Several Qing period examples of 'chicken' cups simulating those that were produced in the Ming dynasty Chenghua period (1465-1487) are known, including one in the Beijing Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 231, no. 212; and another one in the Percival David Collection, illustrated by R. Scott in Imperial Taste, Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, San Francisco, 1989, p. 75, no. 44.