A rare pair of polychrome enamelled ruby-back wine cups, Marks and period of Kangxi | 清康熙 外胭脂紅內粉彩瓜果紋馬蹄盃一對 《大清康熙年製》款

Sydney L. Moss, London, 1937 (£13.10).

Collection of Raymond F.A. Riesco (1877-1964), coll. no. 280, acquired in 1937.

Sydney L. Moss，倫敦，1937年（£13.10）

里埃斯科收藏（1877-1964年），收藏編號280，入藏於1937年

Riesco Collection of Chinese Ceramics Handlist, Croydon, 1987, p. 16, pl. 159.

《Riesco Collection of Chinese Ceramics Handlist》，克羅伊登，1987年，頁16，圖版159

This exquisite pair of cups showcases not only exceptional level of craftsmanship but also stands as an early testament to a remarkable technological breakthrough that was initiated under the patronage of the Kangxi Emperor. Towards the end of the Kangxi reign, about 1720, the imperial workshops dedicated to glass and enamels succeeded in creating a new enamel that would revolutionise the colour palette used in fine Chinese porcelain. This enamel, known as "rose-pink," would later lend its name to the corresponding European term. The sheer beauty of this newly developed palette is evident not only on the interior design but also on the ‘ruby’ glaze of the exterior of the present cups.

It is extremely rare to find Kangxi-marked ruby-back wine cups with enamelled ‘fruit and seeds’ on the interior, and there appear to be a total of four pairs recorded at auction. The four other pairs include those from the T. Y. Chao Collection, sold in these rooms, 18th November 1986, lot 131; the Helen and Paul Bernat Collection, sold in these rooms, 15th November 1988, lot 49 and sold again at Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2007, lot 1759; the third pair from the Gerald M. Greenwald collection, sold in these rooms, 16th November 1988, lot 366, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st December 2010, lot 2813; The fourth pair, probably from the Ton-Yin Collection of 1930, sold at Sotheby's New York, 1st June 1994, lot 390.

成對，敞口，斜壁，深腹，圈足。外施胭脂紅釉。內施白釉，杯心粉彩繪蓮子、葡萄、香瓜、瓜子等瑞果。胭脂紅在康熙晚期由西洋傳入景德鎮，後被稱為「洋紅」，因為以金色為著色劑亦被稱為「金紅」，胭脂紅釉的呈色有深、淺之分，深者稱「胭脂紫」，淺者稱「胭脂水」，根據文獻及現存實物可知類胭脂水釉杯，應為康熙晚期御窯成熟時期作品，為康熙晚期至雍正早期名貴色釉品種。

同類成對的康熙馬蹄盃寥寥可數，且多出自大收藏家之手，目前市面上僅見四對：包括原趙從衍先生之舊藏一對，售於香港蘇富比，1986年11月18日，拍品編號131；另見原屬博納伉儷（Paul & Helen Bernat）舊藏一對，2007年11月27日在香港佳士得售出，拍品編號1759；第三對見原為葛沃得（Greenwald）舊藏，最早於香港蘇富比售出，1988年11月16日，拍品編號366，後於2010年12月香港佳士得售出，拍品編號2813。 第四對見紐約蘇富比1994年6月1日售出，拍品編號390。