A RARE WUCAI 'PRUNUS TREE' MONTH CUP MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

delicately potted of deep 'U'-shape with flared rim and a short straight foot, painted on one side in the wucai palette in underglaze blue and overglaze enamels with a prunus tree's 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 on the other, representing the eleventh month, the reverse inscribed with a poem relating to the flowering tree in front, followed by the seal shang ('to appreciate'), the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within double circles

Collection of H.M. Knight.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2nd May 1991, lot 98.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27th April 1999, lot 423.

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

There is an approx. 2 cm forked body line extending from the rim and light surface scratches. Apart from this, the cup is in very good condition.
"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."

Month cups depicting seasonal flowers accompanied by pertinent two-lined poems represent a classic design of the Kangxi period. This delicately potted piece depicts the prunus tree of the eleventh month, and the poem reads and can be translated as follows:

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.'

A full set of month cups, in the Palace Museum, Bejing, is illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 65, pl. 48; a set from the Sir Percival David collection and now 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, pl. 815; another in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, is included in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 221.

Two cups of this month, from the collection of Edward T. Chow, were sold in these rooms, 19^th May 1981, lot 567, and 25^th November 1980, lot 147, the latter sold again, 17^th May 1988, lot 103; and another from the Goldschmidt collection was sold twice in these rooms, 15^th November 1988, lot 233, and again, 13^th November 1990, lot 11.

For the blue and white version of this cup, see lot 3100 in the present sale.