A blue and white stem cup, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate $5,000 – $7,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The deep, bell-shaped cup is raised on a tall, flaring foot and decorated in a penciled style with a spray of lychee fruits opposite a similarly rendered spray of peaches, all between a herringbone band at the rim and floral sprays on the foot. The interior of the foot is inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua mark. 4 3/8 in. (11 cm.) high - Lot 3568

Provenance: Collection of R.H.R. Palmer, London.
S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, 1983.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White- Wanli to K'ang Hsi, catalogue, London, 1980, no. 63.

Exhibited: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White- Wanli to K'ang Hsi, 13-25 July 1980.

Notes: A cup of similar shape and with similar pencil-style decoration, from the collection of P.J. Donnelly, is illustrated in the Oriental Ceramic Society's Catalogue of an Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, 14th to 19th Centuries,London, 1954, no. 239.

Christie's. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.