AN EXTREMELY RARE SET OF TWELVE WUCAI 'MONTH' CUPS MARKS AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

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each delicately potted of deep U-shape with flared rim and a short straight foot, painted on one side with a different flower motif in the wucai palette in underglaze blue and overglaze enamels, the flowers representing the twelve months, the reverse inscribed with a different poem relating to the flower on the front, followed by a seal reading shang ('to appreciate'), inscribed on the base with a six-character mark within a double ring

A private Japanese collection; Eskenazi Ltd, London (first month).
Eskenazi Ltd, London (second month).
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th October 2001, lot 508; Eskenazi Ltd, London (fourth month).
Eskenazi Ltd, London (fifth month).
Christie's London, 4th November 2008, lot 215; Eskenazi Ltd, London (sixth month).
Collection of H.M. Knight; Eskenazi Ltd, London (seventh month).
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25th April 2004, lot 218; Eskenazi Ltd, London (ninth month).

Oosterse Schatten: 4,000 Jaar Aziatische Kunst, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1954, cat. no. 357 (seventh month).

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, nos. 775-7 (eighth, tenth and twelfth months); vol. 4, nos. 1728-39 (full set).

1- The overall condition is very good. 2- The overall condition is very good. 3- The overall condition is very good. 4- The overall condition is very good. There is an iron spot in the body on the inscribed side. 5- The overall condition is very good. 6- There is a V-shaped hairline (approx. 3 x 4 x 4 cm) extending from the rim on the side of the lotus flower. 7- There is a small star crack to the base, otherwise the overall condition is quite good. 8- 2mm flake to rim. 9- The overall condition is very good. 10- The overall condition is good. There is a minute potting flaw ont he interior. 11- The overall condition is very good. 12- There is some small specks of kiln grit on the interior.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The first month is represented by two wintersweet trees whose massive gnarled trunks bear delicate, faint yellow blossoms, while the palest green envelops the branches, and two red stems of lingzhi are growing among low-growing shrubs below. The poem reads

Jin ying cui e dai chun han. Huang se hua zhong you ji ban.
'The golden blossoms and verdant calyxes bear the chill of spring.
How many shades of yellow can be found among these flowers?'

The second month depicts a red-flowering crab apple tree with few leaves and a rock and some smaller blue plants beneath. This cup is more thickly potted than the others, inscribed in larger script in a paler blue pigment, and the mark is written in three vertical lines. The poem reads

Qing xiang he su yu. Jia se chu qing yan.
'The fragrance blends with the flavour of evening rain.
The beautiful colour stands out in clear weather like in mist.'

The third month shows a red-flowering peach tree with small blossoms among scant leaves, and further blossoms strewn on the ground among grasses. The poem reads

Feng hua xin she yan. Shi jie jiu chun nong.
'When the blossoms sway in the breeze, the swallow returns.
This is the time late in spring when the farmer goes back to his fields.'

The fourth month cup is painted with a cluster of peonies with four red blooms and one yellow, growing behind pierced blue garden rocks. The scene is accompanied by the poem

Xiao yan yuan fen jin zhang lu. Mu xiang shen re yu tang feng.
'At dawn its beauty receives dew from a golden palm.
In the evening the fragrance penetrates deep into the Jade Hall.'

The fifth month shows a pomegranate tree bearing red blossoms and red-and-green fruit, overhanging some lilies and a small aubergine-coloured flower. The poem reads

Lu se zhu lian ying. Xiang feng fen bi zhe.
'The colour unfolds like the sun on pearl curtains.
The breeze bears the fragrance in the shade of the white-washed wall.'

The sixth month shows a pair of mandarin ducks swimming in a lotus pond with a kingfisher swooping down from on high, the male duck and kingfisher with colourful plumage, the female duck in a pale greyish aubergine, and the lotus flowers and leaves shown in different stages of maturity. The reverse bears the poem

Gen shi ni zhong yu. Xin cheng lu xia zhu.
'The roots are like jade gleaming in the mud.
The hearts contain pearls when dew has descended.'

The seventh month depicts a bed of densely growing yellowish-green orchids with a cluster of rocks in front and some bare prickly branches between, the leaves well shaded in different tones of green. This is accompanied by the poem

Guang dian qing xiang fa. Gao tai yuan chui yin.
'The delicate fragrance pervades the spacious hall.
Like music from lofty terraces far away.'

The eighth month shows a small hare seated in the grass beneath a yellow-flowering cassia tree, and the poem

Zhi sheng wu xian yue. Hua man zi ran qiu.
'The branches are growing for months without end.
Once they are laden with blossoms, autumn has surely arrived.'

The ninth month is represented by a chrysanthemum with pale yellow, red and aubergine blooms and a bare prickly branch, with a pierced garden rock and smaller flowers to both sides and a dragonfly and two butterflies hovering above, the accompanying poem reading

Qian zai bai yi jiu. Yi sheng qing nu xiang.
'A thousand fills of wine drunk in a plain white robe.
Throughout the whole life fragrant like a young woman.'

The tenth month shows a red rose growing on moss-covered ground, one long stem overhanging some low-growing blue berries, and one prickly stem growing straight upright, with a yellow and a green butterfly on either side, and the poem

Bu sui qian zhong jin. Du fang yi nian hong.
'Unlike a thousand other species that tire out,
This one alone blazes in red throughout the year.'

The eleventh month depicts a prunus tree with a powerful trunk and two gnarled branches bearing white blossoms with yellow stamens and dark red calyxes, with some small shoots rising from the ground, a tall rock behind, a clump of narcissus and another low rock to one side, and a younger flowering tree to the other, and on the reverse the poem

Su yan xue ning shu. Qing xiang feng man zhi.
'Simple beauty like a tree frozen with snow.
Branches moving in the wind full of clear fragrance.'

The twelfth month shows two clumps of narcissus, the larger one with a blue rock behind and a single red rose emerging from its midst, and the poem

Chun feng nong yu lai qing zhou. Ye yue ling bo shang da ti.
'The spring breeze plays with these gems when daylight arrives.
When the moon traverses at night, it sends ripples up the long dike.'

 

Kangxi: Poems and Flowers Throughout the Year
Regina Krahl

Month cups depicting seasonal flowers accompanied by pertinent two-line poems, represent a classic design of the Kangxi period. Very delicately potted, they are painted in the proper wucai palette of underglaze blue and overglaze enamels, which was devised in the Ming dynasty (AD 1368-1644), but rarely used in the Qing (AD 1644-1911), when the underglaze colour was generally omitted. On these month cups the designs are generally sketched on the unglazed porcelain in a faint underglaze blue.

Sets of porcelain vessels are otherwise unknown in China. Slight differences in size, colours, writing styles and marks between individual cups and different months suggest that even these cups may not have been produced as sets of twelve, but perhaps issued consecutively, as the year evolved, to be assembled at the end. In fact, no completely uniform set appears to exist, and of some months many examples have survived, while others are scarce. 

Complete sets of month cups are of course very rare. The Palace Museum, Bejing owns at least two sets, illustrated in Chūgoku tōji zenshū [Complete works on Chinese ceramics], Kyoto, 1981-86, vol. 21, pl. 61, and in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 65, no. 48 (fig. 1); one set from the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, London, is published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, rev. ed., London, 1991, no. 815; one is in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, illustrated in Idemitsu Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku. Chūgoku tōji / Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 221; and one in the Hong Kong Museum of Art was included in the exhibition The Wonders of the Potter's Palette. Qing Ceramics from the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984-5, cat. no. 15. Julian Thompson illustrates another set in The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, cat. no. 40. Similar ensembles also exist painted in underglaze blue only; see twelve blue-and-white month cups illustrated in Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV: Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 105 B (fig. 2).