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A FINE AND RARE PAIR OF LEMON-YELLOW- A larger pair of cups, with a slightly less flared rim and the
ENAMELED CUPS, MARKS AND PERIOD OF reign mark enclosed within a double circle, is preserved
YONGZHENG in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm
(accession no. OM-1977-0127), illustrated in Jan Wirgin,
the base of each with a six-character mark in underglaze Chinese Ceramics from the Axel and Nora Lundgren Bequest,
blue within a double rectangle with canted corners (2) Stockholm, 1978, pl. 58a, no. 77. Compare also two smaller
Diameter 3 in., 7.6 cm
pairs with straighter sides, formerly in the Sir Percival David
PROVENANCE Collection: one pair now in the British Museum, London
(accession no. PDF,A.567), recorded in Rosemary Scott,
American Private Collection, acquired between 1971 and 1981.
Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Wares
Simple yet striking in their form and color, this rare pair in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London,
of cups is a remarkable and fine example of the technical 1989, p. 39; the other pair included in the exhibition Chinese
perfection achieved by potters working at the imperial kilns Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, British Museum,
during the Yongzheng reign (1723-1735). Although imperial London, 1994, and illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese
yellow-glazed wares had been created at Jingdezhen from Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-
the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644) onwards, this elegant 2010, vol. 2, p. 240, no. 908.
pastel-like enamel, known to connoisseurs as ‘lemon-yellow’
(ningmeng huang), is believed to have been introduced by $ 60,000-80,000
visiting Jesuits just prior to the start of the Yongzheng period.
清雍正 檸檬黃釉盃一對 《大清雍正年製》款
Delicately potted to such small and balanced proportions,
the present pair of cups exemplifies some of the very highest 來源
levels of technical accuracy ever achieved in the history 美國私人收藏，得於1971至1981年之間
of imperial porcelain. Adorning the small area inside the
delicate foot, the present reign mark is inscribed within
a double rectangle with chamfered corners. This mark is
extremely rare. Compare another lemon-yellow cup of this
size with the same mark, from the collection of Dr Wou
Kiuan, sold in these rooms, 22nd March 2022, lot 79; and
another, with a related square mark, from the collection
of Stephen Junkunc, III, sold at Christie’s New York, 21st
September 1995, lot 253.

54 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11744 55