A RARE DOUCAI 'LOTUS POND' CUP MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

delicately potted with curved sides resting on a countersunk base, brilliantly enamelled with a continuous scene depicting a lotus pond with large lotus blooms and long curved leaves, together with a white egret and several butterflies hovering over a yellow bird perched on rockwork, the base inscribed in underglaze-blue with a six-character reign mark within a double-circle

Hosokawa Morisada Collection ten II – Shinno jiki, Persia no touki [Morisada Hosokawa Collection exhibition II – Qing porcelains and Persian ceramics], Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, Kumamoto, 1993, cat. no. 30.

Morisada Hosokawa, Mokumei Goshiki: Shinchō jiki [Bewildering colours: Qing Dynasty porcelains], Tokyo, 1992, no. 47.

The mouth has a hairline crack of approx. 1.5 cm above the brown butterfly which has been stabilised. There is also a approx. 0.4 cm glaze pull to the base. The overall condition is otherwise quite good with the enamel generally well preserved.
"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."

This cup embodies the Yongzheng emperor's penchant for unassuming elegant wares with designs inspired by paintings. Bird and flower paintings emerged as a genre in the Song dynasty and established themselves in the porcelain repertoire in the early 15th century. The doucai technique was particularly suited to this motif as the craftsman could employ the underglaze blue to outline the design and the enamels to fill areas with colour as a painter would use ink outlines and colour washes, to capture the essence of bird and flower paintings.

A Yongzheng cup similarly painted with two birds perched on rockwork, in the H.M. Knight collection, was included in the exhibition Oosterse Schatten. 4000 Jaar Aziatische Kunst, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1954, cat. no. 385; and a slightly smaller example, decorated with fruit, flowers and butterflies, was included in the Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Enamelled Polychrome Porcelain of the Manchu Dynasty, London, 1951, cat. no. 96. Similarly painted bird and flower designs adorned a number of doucai wares in the Yongzheng period; for example a bowl painted with a bird perched on a flowering magnolia tree, sold in these rooms, 5th October 2011, lot 2117; and a miniature vase, painted with two birds on rockwork and flowering branches, sold in these rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 3110.