Page 60 - Sotheby's London Important Chinese Art Nov. 2019

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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT ENGLISH PRIVATE COLLECTION The poem on the present cup may be translated as
A RARE WUCAI ‘MONTH’ CUP follows:
KANGXI MARK AND PERIOD ‘The swallow returns when the blossoms sway in the
breeze,
finely potted, the deep rounded sides rising from a It is the season in late spring when farmers return to their
short foot to a flared rim, delicately enamelled around fields.’
the exterior with a red-flowering peach tree with
small blossoms among scant leaves, representing the Compare a similar cup from the collection of Mr. and
third month, the reverse inscribed in underglaze blue Mrs. E. Toeg, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society
with a poem followed by a seal mark reading shang exhibition Enamelled Polychrome Porcelain of the Manchu
(appreciation), the base inscribed in underglaze blue with Dynasty (1644-1912), London, 1951, cat. no. 253, and sold
a six-character mark within a double circle twice in these rooms, 3rd December 1963, lot 147, and
Diameter 6.5 cm, 2½ in. 14th July 1970, lot 204; another example, from the YC
Chen collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th May
PROVENANCE 2013, lot 1911.
T.Y. King, Jr., Hong Kong, 7th February 1965 (£125),
Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, 15th November 1965 (£ 225). £ 20,000-30,000
Collection of Allan D. Pilkington. HK$ 196,000-293,000 US$ 25,000-37,500
Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, 11th June 1969 (£375). 清康熙 五彩桃花花神杯
Thence by family descent.
Month cups depicting seasonal flowers accompanied by 《大清康熙年製》款
pertinent two-line poems represent a classic design of the
Kangxi period (r. 1662-1722). Very delicately potted, they 來源
are painted in the proper wucai palette of underglaze blue T.Y. King, Jr.，香港，1965年2月7日（£125）
and overglaze enamels, which was devised in the Ming Bluett & Sons Ltd.，倫敦，1965年11月15日（£225）
dynasty, but rarely used in the Qing, when the underglaze Collection of Allan D. Pilkington
colour was generally omitted. On these month cups the Bluett & Sons Ltd.，倫敦，1969年6月11日（£375）
designs are generally sketched on the unglazed porcelain 此後家族傳承
in a faint underglaze blue.

Mark

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