Provenance: 1. Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27 April 2003, lot 187
2. Eskenazi Ltd, London
3. The Meiyintang Collection.

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4(2), London, 1994-2010, p.294, no.1758, 1759.

Note: This exquisitely painted piece is an extremely rare version of chicken cups produced during the Yongzheng reign that were directly inspired by the treasured Chenghua originals. It closely follows the Chenghua prototype in form and composition, but with the slightest variation on the design, such as the more elaborate tails of the cocks instead of three long feathers.

The design of a cock and a hen with chicks in a garden setting was a design innovation of the Chenghua reign, although the subject was a well-known topic of Song dynasty painting. By the Yongzheng period, developments in enamel technology saw the invention of glossy black enamel that was added to the tails of the cocks to capture the richness of the birds.

For examples of the Chenghua original, see eight in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, of which six were included in Chenghua ciqi tezhan/Special EXHIBITION of Ch’eng-hua Porcelain Ware, 1465-1487, National Palace Museum, Taipei, cat. nos 132-7; one from the Sir Percival David Collection, and now in the British Museum, London, included in the EXHIBITION Flawless Porcelains. Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua Emperor, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1995, cat. no. 22.

Poly Auction. A Romance Among Blooming Roses: The Meiyintang Collection of Three Dynasties Imperial Ceramics,  Hong Kong, 2 December 2021.