Lot 3138. A rare pair of famille rose Mille Fleurs cups, Jiaqing six-character seal marks in iron red and of the period (1796-1820); 3 ¼ in. (8.2 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price Realized USD 47,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Each cup is finely potted with deep sides, and decorated on the exterior with a dense allover pattern of various flowers below the gilded mouth rim.

Note: The lovely mille fleurs, or wanhuajin (myriad flower brocade), design seen on these beautiful cups was developed in the Qianlong reign (1736-1795) and continued to be much admired at court during the reign of the Jiaqing emperor. The pattern is a masterpiece of design, interweaving the flowers to form a harmonious overall decoration.

Compare to a similar pair of Jiaqing-marked mille fleurs cups sold at Christie's New York, 17 September 2008, lot 518; and another example from the Kumasaku Tomita Collection, sold at Chrisite's Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1751. A pair of similarly decorated cups, also with iron-red six-character Jiaqing marks, from the Edward T. Chow Collection was illustrated by C. and M. Beurdeley in La Ceramique Chinoise, Fribourg, 1974, no. 151. These were later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, The Edward T. Chow Collection, Part One, 25 November 1980, lot 171.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 15 - 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza