Lot 2703. From the Wang Xing Lou Collection. A fine and extremely rare carved yellow-ground green-enamelled ‘lotus’ wine cup, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 6,4 cm diam., box. Price realised HKD 3,906,000 (Estimate HKD 800,000 – HKD 1,500,000). © Christie's Image Ltd 2024

Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Marilynn Alsdorf (1925-2019); sold at Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2001, lot 94 (part.

Literature: Ye Peilan and J. Thompson, Imperial Perfection: The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors, Kangxi- Yongzheng- Qianlong, A Selection from The Wang Xing Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 100-101, no. 34.

Exhibited: On loan to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2003-2020

Note: The combination of yellow and green enamels was almost exclusively used on imperial wares, and more commonly seen decorated with dragon motifs. The present cup is very rare with its delicate size, vessel shape and the choice of decoration in the use of a lotus scroll.

A similarly decorated but larger cup is in the Baur Collection, illustrated J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, p. 82, A544, no. 202. Another related dish with lotus motif, Yongzheng marked and period, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2019, lot 3158 

Christie's. The Ten Perfections - Qing Imperial Ceramics from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, Hong Kong, 30 may 2024