A set of six blue and white nesting cups, Chongzhen period, circa 1643. Estimate $1,500 - $2,500. Price Realized $1,250 . Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Of graduating size, each cup is decorated with various figures of sages, attendants and a dignitary in a landscape. Three cups bear apocryphal Chenghua marks and three are inscribed on the base with the character ya ('elegant´). 1 7/8 in. (4.5 cm.) to 3 ¼ in. (8 cm.) diam.

Provenance: The Property of Captain Michael Hatcher; Christie's Amsterdam, 14 March 1984, lot 483.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: Julia B. Curtis, “Transitionware Made Plain: A Wreck in the South China Sea,” Oriental Art, Volume XXXI, No. 2, Summer, 1985, p. 165, fig. 7.
Colin Sheaf and Richard Kilburn, The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes, The Complete Record, London, 1988, pp. 28-29, pl. 15.

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