Lot 5. A very rare and fine pair of lemon-yellow 'mallow' cups, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 6.5 cm. Lot sold: 3,528,000 HKD (Estimate: 800,000 - 1,200,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2021

each skilfully moulded with a band of petals encircling the foot, below the subtly overlapping petals rising to the lobed rim resembling a mallow bloom, covered overall save for the footring and base with a vibrant yellow enamel, the latter left white and inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double circle.

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 18th September 1996, lot 221.

Note: It is extremely rare to find a yellow-enamelled cup of this charming form and dainty size. A much larger pair of yellow-enamelled mallow-shaped bowls from the collection of Edward T. Hall, nos 417 and 420, was sold at Christie’s London, 7th June 2004, lot 277; and a further yellow example, even larger in size, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th October 2003, lot 703.

See also a small white moulded ‘mallow’ cup in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art (accession no. C1984.0009), but with incised details on the overlapping petals and a square reign mark, included in the Museum’s exhibition The Wonders of the Potter’s Palette, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 58. Compare also a large ‘mallow’ bowl in lime green glaze in the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. 247-1905), and published in Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics. Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, pl. 66.