Lot 446. A pair of doucai 'Phoenix' wine cups, Yongzheng marks and period (1723-1735). Diameter 3 7/8 in., 10 cm. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Lot sold 21,250 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

each of conical form set on a short tapering foot, painted on the interior with the head and chest of a phoenix and bamboo shoots each continuing over the rim and on to the exterior with the trailing tail and legs of the bird and further bamboo, six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double circle (2). 

Provenance: Matthias Komor, New York, circa 1955, with label on back of original fitted box stating inventory no. K622.

Note: Originating in the Kangxi period, similar examples of this form and design are typically inscribed with hallmarks or apocryphal Chenghua marks and are dated to either the Kangxi or Yongzheng periods. It is rare to find a pair inscribed with Yongzheng reign marks.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART. 18 MARS 2014 - 19 MARS 2014. NEW YORK