Lot 20. Property from an important European collection. A fine and extremely rare pair of ruby-pink and famille-rose 'lychee' cups, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 8.6 cm. Lot Sold 8,890,000 HKD (Estimate 4.000,000 - 6.000,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2024

each delicately potted with deep rounded sides rising from a short straight foot to a slightly flared rim, exquisitely enamelled to the interior with a lychee spray, the exterior applied with a rich ruby glaze of crushed raspberry tone, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in a double circle, wood stands.

Provenance: Acquired from Edward T. Chow (1910-80) in the late 1960s.

Note: In its clean form and exceptionally vibrant crushed raspberry tone, together with delicate sprays of lychee on the interior, these rare cups exemplify the Yongzheng Emperor's aesthetic sensibility and incessant pursuit of refined beauty.

The ruby-pink enamel was first introduced to China from Europe through Jesuit missionaries during the Kangxi period (see Nigel Wood, Chinese Glazes, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 241-243). Numerous scientific experiments were conducted, and towards the end of the Kangxi period, around 1720, artisans developed an improved recipe of a matte ruby-pink enamel derived from colloidal gold combined with an admixture of opaque white lead arsenate. These technological achievements resulted in a variety of shades, from bright pink to purplish red, which revolutionised the porcelain colour palette. This enamel, known as "rose-pink," would later lend its name to the corresponding European term famille rose. An array of small refined vessels characterised by fine potting and perfectly fired enamels of bright hues were commissioned since the late Kangxi period and continued into the Yongzheng reign.

Exquisitely painted on the interior with a spray of lychee in famille-rose, the present cups are extremely rare and no other examples seem to be recorded. Although the combination of famille-rose and puce enamels was already employed in the last years of the Kangxi reign and continued into the early Yongzheng period, extant examples are rare and differ in shape and design.

Several Yongzheng examples painted in famille-rose with scattered berries, melon and lotus seeds are known. Most of them are modelled with steep sides, closely following the Kangxi prototypes: for example, a pair is illustrated in Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 94; another pair was sold in these rooms, 6th April 2016, lot 3018. Also decorated with berries and seeds, a bowl with rounded sides enamelled in bright carnation-pink is published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 957.

Two smaller pairs of Yongzheng rose-pink enamelled cups, each painted on the interior with three cherries and inscribed with a six-character mark in three columns, were sold in these rooms, 29th November 1977, lot 162, and 10th December 1985, lot 273, respectively. See also a slightly larger pair of Yongzheng-marked pink-enamelled cups with flaring sides and florets on the interior, formerly in the collection of J.M. Hu, included in Qing Imperial Monochromes: The Zande Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, pl. 16.

For a Yongzheng cup of this proportion and vibrant colour, but without famille-rose decoration, see one included in Zhongguo ming tao Riben xunhui zhan [Exhibition of famous Chinese ceramics touring Japan], Museum of History, Taipei, 1993, p. 177 and sold in these rooms, 7th October 2019, lot 3102; and another, sold twice in these rooms, first, 31st October 1995, lot 415, and again 29th October 2001, lot 577. Compare also another pair of Yongzheng pink-enamelled cups with undecorated interiors in this collection, lot 14.

Sotheby's. An Important European Collection of Chinese Ceramics - Acquired from Edward T. Chow, Hong Kong, 9 April 2024.