Page 340 - CHRISTIE'S Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 09/14 - 15 / 17

PROPERTY FROM THE ANNA-MARIA AND STEPHEN KELLEN FOUNDATION, NEW YORK
1223
A FAMILLE VERTE ‘PRUNUS’ ‘MONTH’ CUP
KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE WITHIN A
DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)
The cup is delicately enameled on one side of the exterior with a fowering
prunus tree, narcissus and bamboo growing from a rocky outcrop, and the
reverse with a ten-character poetic inscription referring to the scene, followed calendar, usually identifed by the fowering prunus (meihua) tree growing
by a seal mark, shang (‘appreciation’).
2 in. (4.9 cm.) high
$70,000-90,000
This small, exceptionally thinly potted cup is from one of the imperial sets
of wine cups depicting the Flowers of the Twelve Months. A complete set
of twelve month cups in the collection of the Percival David Foundation is
illustrated by R. Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration - Four
Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, Percival David Foundation, London/
Singapore, 1992, p. 113, no. 122.
Each of these cups was decorated in a particularly fnely painted version
of the wucai palette, with rocks and clumps of grass painted in a soft
underglaze blue, while the majority of the decoration is rendered in overglaze
famille verte enamels.
(another view)
332
The status of these cups can perhaps be judged by the fact that at the end
of the inscription, which accompanies the decoration on each cup, there is
an underglaze blue seal character which reads: shang. This character may be
translated as ‘enjoy’, for example to enjoy or appreciate the fowers depicted.
However, in this context it is more probable that it should be translated as
‘reward’, with the implication of being bestowed by a superior (in this case
the emperor) as a reward for meritorious service.
The current cup is representative of the 11th month of the Chinese lunar
from rocks amidst bamboo and narcissus.
The inscription reads:
Su yen xue ning shu, qing xiang feng man zhi (‘The prunus blossom is pure
like snow on the tree, its subtle fragrance moves like breeze through the
branches.’)
Cups from these ‘Twelve Months’ sets have always been greatly prized
for their delicacy, the artistry of their decoration, and for the pleasing
relationship between the designs and the poems chosen to complement
them. If, in addition, they were received from the emperor as gifts in honor
of services rendered to the throne, they would have been even more greatly
treasured.
清康熙 五彩「梅花」花神盃 雙圈六字楷書款
(mark)