A fine famille-rose 'boy and chicken' cup with imperial poem, Fanggu seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆　粉彩御題詩雞缸盃　《大清乾隆仿古》款　「乾隆丙申御題」字　「乾」、「隆」印

Hong Kong Auctioneers & Estate Agency, 25th October 1998, lot 534.

Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 105.

From its first appearance on porcelains of the Chenghua period of the Ming dynasty, this charming motif of a cockerel, hen and chicks enjoyed continued popularity at court, especially during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns. While the form and illustration altered markedly from the prototype, the Qianlong fanggu mark (Exemplifying antiquity during the Qianlong reign of the Great Qing dynasty) and the poetic inscription clearly reflect the Qianlong Emperor’s admiration for the Ming dynasty prototypes.

See a pair of cups of this type in the Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 144; one included in the exhibition Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr and Mrs J.M. Hu, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 1989, cat. no. 64; another included in the exhibition Joined Colours, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 1993, cat. no. 64; and two cups from the Sir Percival David collection and now in the British Museum, London, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares, London, 1991, pls A823 and A827.

The poem written on the this cup, which was composed by the Qianlong Emperor in 1776, identifies the boy as Jia Chang (b. AD 713), a child prodigy who began training at the age of thirteen to fight cocks for the Xuanzong Emperor (AD 713-56). The boy is painted on tiptoe, possibly to form the rebus qiao zu er dai, meaning ‘to expect something to be soon forthcoming’.

詩題

李唐越器人間無，趙宋官窰辰星看。殷周鼎彜世頗多，堅脆之質於焉辨。堅樸脆巧久蹔分，立德踐行義可玩。朱明去此弗甚遙，宣成雅具時猶見。寒芒秀采總稱珍，就中雞缸最為冠。牡丹麗日春風和，牝雞逐隊雄鷄絢。金尾鐵距首昂藏，怒勢如聽賈昌喚。良工物態肖無遺，趨華風氣隨時變。我獨警心在齊詩，不敢耽安興以晏。

來源

香港拍賣行及地產代理，1998年10月25日，編號534

出版

朱湯生，《中國瓷器：莊紹綏收藏》，香港，2009年，圖版105

雞缸盃首見於明代成化朝，紋飾繪雄雞、牝雞及雛雞，盛行不衰，尤其風行於雍乾時期，本品器形與紋飾設計異於成窰版本，「乾隆仿古」、御題詩，反映乾隆皇帝對於成化雞缸盃之傾慕與喜愛。

全球各大博物館之相類藏品，如台北故宮博物院藏一對，展出於《清康雍乾名瓷特展》，台北，1986年，編號144；另一例出版於《胡惠春先生王華雲女士捐贈瓷器精品選》，上海博物館，1989年，編號4；還有一例錄於《Joined Colours》，賽克勒美術館，華盛頓特區，1993年，編號64；大維德基金會藏二盃，現貯於倫敦大英博物館，載於《Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares》，倫敦，1991年，圖版 A823、A827。

乾隆皇帝御題詩，作於1776年，描述紋飾中人物為賈昌（713年生），十三歲即開始為唐玄宗（713-56年在位）馴養鬥雞，此處翹足而待，極是生動。