A pair of doucai 'medallion' cups, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 鬪彩團花馬蹄盃一對 《大明成化年製》仿款

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th October 1991, lot 206.

香港蘇富比1991年10月29日，編號206

The design of the present cups is inspired by similar examples produced during the celebrated reign of the Chenghua Emperor, known for its strict standards requiring perfection of form and execution of design. The Qing emperors, though ethnically Manchu, also strongly supports traditional Confucian thinking in Han Chinese culture, seeking to achieve cultural continuity. Cups of similar shape or design to the present lot were made during the Chenghua period, see five doucai cups, mark and period of Chenghua in the Palace Museum, Taipei, all with a similar shape but floral medallions, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ch'eng-hua PorcelainWare, Taipei, 2003, cat. nos 152-156. Another cup with a very similar ‘birds and flowers’ medallion design is illustrated in ibid., cat. no. 169.

口微侈，斜弧壁，臥圈足，盃口覆呈馬蹄狀。線條柔美，胎釉精良，溫潤似玉。通體施白釉，胎體輕薄，釉質瑩潤，外壁對稱繪四組團花，其中兩組花卉紋，兩組為花鳥紋。清初皇帝非常重視漢文化及儒家正統思想，他們不但重視宣揚漢文化，既有滿人入主中原正統性的象徵，更將這種思想在藝術創作上表現出來。成化本朝相似的例子，見台北故宮博物院藏五件鬪彩團果紋馬蹄盃，著錄於《成化瓷器特展圖錄》，台北，2003年，編號152-156，另見同著錄中一件成化鬪彩花鳥團花杯，編號169。