Lot 270. A Fine and Rare Pale Turquoise-Glazed Cup, Yongzheng Mark and Period (1723-1735); 2; 9.1cm., 3 5/8 in. Estimate 60,000 - 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 133,250 GBP. Photo Sotheby's

delicately potted with rounded sides rising from a shallow tapering foot, the exterior evenly applied with a pale turquoise glaze stopping neatly at the foot, the interior and base glazed white, inscribed with a six-character Yongzheng mark within a circle, wood stand; Quantité: Estimation: 60,000 - 80,000 GBP

Provenance: Collection of Emily Trevor, New York.
Collection of John B. Trevor Jr., Palm Beach.
Christie's New York, 19th September 2007, lot 348.
Marchant, London, 2008.

Note: The striking light turquoise colour, seen on the present fine bowl, is derived from mixing opaque white enamel, and while characteristic of the Yongzheng period, it is rarely achieved to such high level of perfection as seen on this example. Yongzheng cups of this elegant and pleasing form were also covered in lemon-yellow, rose-pink, coral-red and lime-green glazes. Comparable turquoise glazed cups can be found in a number of museum collections; for example, one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 257; a cup in the Baur collection, Geneva, is published in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva: Chinese Ceramics, vol. III, Geneva, 1968, no. A478; and one from the Kau Chi Society, was included in the exhibition Ancient Chinese Ceramics, the Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1981, cat. no. 137.

A bowl, possibly the pair to the present example, previously in the collection of Emily Trevor and later in the Meiyintang collection was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 2. Another, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 1st November 1994, lot 102; and a further example was sold in these rooms, 17th December 1996, lot 120.

A turquoise glazed bowl of this type, but of the Jiaqing period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is published in Geng Baochang (ed.), Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancai (Selection of Ancient Ceramic Material from the Palace Museum), vol. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 260.