清乾隆 紫地粉彩軋道番蓮紋盃 《乾隆年製》款

delicately potted with deep rounded sides rising steeply from a short foot to a gently flared rim, the exterior delicately painted with three flowering formal lotus blooms encircled by curling foliage and interspersed with small florets and lingzhi blooms, all above a band of yellow upright petal lappets and reserved on a ruby-red ground finely incised with sgraffiato feathered scrolls, the interior richly dressed in gold, the base with an underglaze-blue four-character seal mark

Ralph M. Chait Galleries，紐約，1969年12月30日
香港蘇富比2009年10月8日，編號1605（其一）

The overall condition is very good, except for some wear to the gold decoration, which has been slightly touched up. The enamels otherwise have been generally well preserved. The unglazed footring has a couple of minute kiln flakes.
"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."

Impressive for the expertly decorated design of lotus scrolls on a sgraffiato ground, the present cup highlights the technical proficiency of porcelain manufacturers at Jingdezhen under the Qianlong reign. See a smaller cup of similar form and decoration, but with the mark Baose zhai zhi ('Studio for the Precious and Miserly') on the base, sold in these rooms, 28th November 1979, lot 236.

For Qianlong cups of slightly larger proportions and straight sides rising from a countersunk base, painted with a related blossoming lotus scroll on an incised ruby-ground, see one sold at Christie's New York, 2nd December 1993, lot 344, and again in these rooms, 8th April 2007, lot 801; and another, but decorated with a mixed-flower scroll, in the Nanjing Museum, included in the exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Nanjing Museum, 1995, cat. no. 94. Compare also the cover of an engraved ruby-ground cup, similarly decorated with a floral design sold in our London rooms, 6th December 1994, lot 211.

The complicated and laborious sgraffiato technique here employed was first included in the repertoire of the Jingdezhen potters during the Qianlong period and was reserved for decorating very special pieces. Commonly known as jinshang tianhua, ('adding decorative pattern onto brocades'), the technique consisted of reserving the design on a monochrome enamel ground, which itself is structured by needle-point etching of endless scrolling fronds. Sgraffiato was more often restricted to smaller subsidiary borders, rather than being used for the main field of decoration, due to the difficulty of achieving an evenness in the enamel over a large surface.

For a Yongzheng reign marked cup of this form and size and its saucer, enamelled with shaped yellow-ground panels of peony blossoms on a plain ruby-ground and the exterior of the saucer decorated with iron-red bats on a plain white ground, see one illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV. Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 157, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 1999, lot 537.