Page 72 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK

An exquisite Yongzheng ‘chicken cup’
Rosemary Scott
International Academic Director Asian Art
This exquisite Yongzheng doucai ‘chicken’ cup combines features
of two of the most revered periods of imperial Chinese porcelain
production – the reigns of the Yongzheng (1723-35) and the
Chenghua (1465-87) emperors. During both these reign periods
porcelains at the imperial kilns reached new heights of perfection
and have long been prized by collectors. In the case of the
current cup, the Yongzheng craftsmen – no doubt fulfilling
specific instructions from the Yongzheng Emperor – have sought
painstakingly to copy one of the iconic products of the Chenghua
reign, a doucai ‘chicken’ cup. While keeping to the style of the 15th Admiration for Chenghua ‘chicken’ cups was expressed relatively
century original, the 18th century decorator has, however, made use
of new technological developments in order to add one additional
element to the design.
The subject of the decoration on this doucai cup is that of a hen,
rooster and chickens. This subject had provided inspiration for
artists as early as the Song dynasty, had already found imperial
favour in the Xuande reign (1426-35). The National Palace
Museum has in its collection a Xuande painting of this subject,
bearing both the Xuande Emperor’s seal and an inscription
from his brush (Illustrated by Ts’ai Ho-pi, ‘Chenghua Porcelain
in Historical Context’, The Emperor’s broken china - Reconstructing
Chenghua porcelain, London, 1995, p. 22, fig. 2). The attitude of
the Chenghua Emperor to this theme is made very plain in the
colophon written by him in 1486 on an anonymous Song dynasty
painting of a hen and her chicks, which is also preserved in the
collection of the National Palace Museum (illustrated ibid. p. 22,
fig. 1). The Emperor praises the hen for guarding her chickens,
responding to their cries, nourishing them, and defending them.
It is likely that the nurturing aspect of this decorative scheme
particularly appealed to the Chenghua Emperor, as it appears
to have done to both the Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors. In
the case of the Yongzheng Emperor, he was an exceptionally
conscientious ruler, and it is likely that he drew parallels between
the care of the hen for her chicks and his own care for the welfare
of his subjects throughout the Empire. On both the Chenghua
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and Yongzheng ‘chicken cups’ the birds are painted showing them
as a family unit with the rooster and hen watching the chickens
run around and peck at their food. The style in which they are
depicted is both lively and natural.
The porcelains of the Chenghua reign were greatly praised by
succeeding generations, and of the Chenghua porcelains doucai
wares were especially admired, while ‘chicken’ cups and ‘grape’
cups were regarded by collectors as being exceptionally desirable.
soon after the date of their manufacture. In a late Ming-early Qing
publication - the Rong Cha Li Shuo by Cheng Zhe, the author gives
a lists of wares from the past, which are particularly admired, and
also notes that the most expensive and most attractive porcelains are
the Chenghua ‘chicken cups’. Cheng Zhe mentions that during the
Wanli reign (1573-1620) the emperor liked to use such vessels, and
that a pair of these Chenghua cups was already worth 10,000 cash
(see Ts’ai Ho-pi, ‘Chenghua Porcelain in Historical Context’, The
Emperor’s broken china - Reconstructing Chenghua porcelain, London,
1995, p. 17). Shen Defu (1578-1642) in his Biji said that ‘In ceramics
the dearest are those of the Chenghua reign, then those from the
Xuande reign. A cup used to count only several ounces [of silver],
when I was a child I did not think of them as valuable treasures.
A pair of Chenghua wine cups now fetches 100 ounces [of silver],
and a Xuande incense burner almost as much.’ (translated by
Craig Clunas, Superfluous Things - Material Culture and Social Status
in Early Modern China, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1991, p. 136-7).
‘Chicken’ cups produced in both the Kangxi and the Yongzheng
reigns were painted with great care to emulate the soft blue, soft
glaze and delicate enamels of the Chenghua originals, however
on the current Yongzheng cup there is new element added to
the design. Close examination of Chenghua doucai ‘chicken’ cup’
provides a reminder of a missing enamel colour within the 15th
century enamel palette - black enamel. Although the tails of the
roosters on Chenghua ‘chicken cups’ look black at a distance,