Page 63 - Sotheby's London Important Chinese Art Nov. 2019

151

A FAMILLE-ROSE BONELESS ‘BUTTERFLY AND a pair with a Kangxi reign mark and of the period, sold
ASTERS’ CUP in our New York rooms, 8th May 1980, lot 249; and an
KANGXI MARK AND PERIOD example of Yongzheng mark and period, from the J.M. Hu
Family Collection, sold in these rooms, 11th April 2008, lot
the rounded sides rising to a subtly flared rim, elegantly 2832.
enamelled to the exterior with a leafy sprig of bright Cups decorated with this particular design are rare.
yellow asters, accompanied by three butterflies detailed Compare with a closely related example in the Shanghai
with various colours and patterns, the countersunk base Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares
inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998,
mark within a double square
Diameter 6.4 cm, 2½ in. pls. 93.1-3; and another sold in our London rooms, 9th
June 2004, lot 216. A cup of the same size and design
PROVENANCE from the collection of Iver Munthe Daae, possible the pair
to the present cup, was sold in Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7th
Sotheby’s London, 9th June 2004, lot 216.
October 2015, lot 3636.
This cup is a fine example of the developments in painting
during the early Qing dynasty, where wash and colour £ 20,000-30,000
were beginning to be emphasised over line. Known as the HK$ 196,000-293,000 US$ 25,000-37,500
‘boneless style’, this painting technique is characterised
by the virtual lack of outlines. The only lines in the entire 清康熙 五彩蝶戀花紋小盃
composition are those rendering the veins on the leaves 《大清康熙年製》款
and wings of the butterflies. This technique was rarely
used on porcelain. For further examples of butterfly and 來源
flower decorated cups employing the ‘boneless style’, see
倫敦蘇富比2004年6月9日，編號216

Mark

61