A FINE FAMILLE-ROSE 'BOY AND CHICKEN' CUPQIANLONG FANGGU SEAL MARK AND PERIOD |

finely potted with steep rounded sides rising from a recessed base to a slightly everted rim, painted on the exterior with a boy approaching a rooster, a hen tending four small chicks behind the rocks, the scene further decorated with blooming peonies and roses, inscribed with an imperial poem by the Qianlong Emperor, dated to the bingshen year of the Qianlong reign corresponding to 1776, the base inscribed with a six-character fanggu seal mark in underglaze blue

Frank Caro Co., New York, 3rd November 1971.
Ohio Private Collection, and thence by descent.

Art for Collectors, Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, 1971.

The cup and enamels are in 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Cups of this type derive from Chenghua doucai prototypes, and the inscribed poem acknowledges that the design is an adaptation of the earlier 'chicken' cups. For a translation of the poem and a description of the subject, see the exhibition catalogue, For the Imperial Court: Qing Porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1997 p. 98. A closely related example was included in the exhibition Joined Colours, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 1993, cat. no. 64; another, in the Percival David Foundation in the British Museum, London, was included in the exhibition For the Imperial Court, op. cit., cat. no. 33; and a pair of cups in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, was included in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 144.

See also a cup of this type sold in our London rooms, 14th November 2001, lot 106; and another sold at Christie's London, 4th November 2008, lot 222, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 1892.