Lot 172. A yellow-ground underglaze-blue handled cup, Yongzheng mark and period; 12.3cm., 4 7/8 in. Estimate 40,000 - 60,000 GBP. Lot sold 92,500 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2013

the rounded sides rising from a short foot to a lobed rim, flanked by a pair of butterfly handles, the interior painted with a central floral medallion radiating with two rows of petal lappets each variously enclosing a lingzhi or floral spray, the exterior similarly decorated, all reserved on a bight lemon-yellow ground, the white base with a six-character mark within a double-circle

Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 9th June 1992, lot 299.

Note: This charming cup is inspired by blue-and-white cups produced in the early Ming period and is notable for the yellow ground which adds a sense of contemporaneity to the piece. A closely related cup was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 2939; one of slightly smaller dimensions was sold in these rooms, 10th June 1997, lot 100; and two much smaller examples were sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27th April 1993, lot 240, and the other, 29th April 1997, lot 703. Compare a blue and white version, also with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the period, is illustrated in Mayuyama. Seventy Years, vol. I, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 1063.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, London, 15 may 2013