Lot 4. A fine pair of doucai 'lingzhi' winecups, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); d. 7.3 cm. Lot sold: 3,906,000 HKD (Estimate: 1,600,000 - 2,400,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2021

each of shallow 'U' form, delicately potted with gently flared sides raised on a circular footring, decorated on the exterior in cobalt blue of soft tone and brilliant enamels of iron red, yellow, aubergine and pale green with four medallions enclosing a pair of ruyi heads, divided by florets with leafy tendrils, inscribed to the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double square.

Note: Meticulously painted with pairs of ruyi heads separated by foliate floral scrolls, this pair of charming cups is a testament of the Yongzheng Emperor’s penchant for classic styles of the past. Their fine and thinly potted bodies, smooth and tactile glazes, and delicate decoration were inspired by prototypes of the Chenghua reign, which were especially treasured by the Yongzheng Emperor.

Compare a Chenghua mark and period reconstructed cup with double lingzhi, recovered from the Chenghua stratum at the site of the imperial kiln factory in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, and illustrated in Imperial Porcelain: Recent Discoveries of Jingdezhen Ware, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1995, cat. no. 154. See also five other examples from the Qing court collection, now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ch'eng-hua Porcelain Ware, Taipei, 2003, cat. nos 145-149 (fig. 1), together with two related bowls with lingzhi roundels, cat. nos 143-144.

Two doucai 'lingzhi' cups, marks and period of Chengnhua, Qing court collection. National Palace Museum, Taipei.

A closely related Yongzheng example is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 235, together with two Ming prototypes, pl. 181; another Yongzheng cup in the Sir Percival David collection, now in the British Museum was included in the exhibition Flawless Porcelains. Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua Emperor, Percival David Foundation, London, 1995, cat. no. 43, together with a Ming original, cat. no. 21, and a Daoguang version, cat. no. 42. See also a pair sold in these rooms, 14th November 1983, lot 157; another pair was sold twice in these rooms, 28th April 1998, lot 814, and again, 8th October 2013, lot 3094; and a further pair sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot 3523.

Sotheby's. The Three Emperors: Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns from the Yidetang Collection, Hong Kong, 12 October 2021