Lot 2702. From the Wang Xing Lou Collection. A fine pair of lemon yellow-enamelled tea bowls, Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 9.2 cm diam., box. Price realised HKD 3,276,000 (Estimate HKD 800,000 – HKD 1,500,000). © Christie's Image Ltd 2024

Provenance: Collection of Robert Somerville, Chicago, by repute
Collection of Harold L. Geiger, acquired in 1954
Sold at Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2000, lot 122.

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. 254-255, no. 101.

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

Note: This 'lemon-yellow' enamel is a pastel tone mixed with white to achieve opaqueness. Its tone was derived from lead stannate (lead and tin), which was almost exclusively used for small cups and dishes.

A similar pair to the present cups is illustrated by J. Wirgin in Chinese Ceramics from the Axel and Nora Lundgren Bequest, Stockholm, 1978, pl. 8 and 77 (or pl. 58a, no. 77).

Compare to a slightly smaller pair of Yongzheng lemon-yellow cups (7.3 cm. diam.), formerly in the E. T. Hall Collection, sold at Christie’s London, 7 June 2004, lot 267; and a single Yongzheng cup in similar size and shape, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1523, later sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, The Meiyintang Collection- an Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelain, 7 April 2011, lot 32.

Another pair of lemon-yellow-enamelled cups of bubble shape, from the same collection as the present lot, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, Celestial Brilliance- The Wang Xing Lou Collection of Imperial Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 30 May 2022, lot 2709.

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