A doucai 'chicken' cup, Mark and period of Kangxi

Acquired in the 1970s.

Among the most celebrated designs ever to be applied to porcelain, that of the naive doucai 'chicken' cup is perhaps the most beloved. First developed in the imperial kilns of the Chenghua Emperor (r. 1464–1487), the simple design depicts a group of rooster, hen and chicks feeding amidst rocky outcrops in the softest of enamels and minimal brushstrokes. Chicken cups became almost instantly recognised as treasures of the Chenghua reign and were already prized and reproduced by the end of the Ming dynasty. 

By the High Qing period (ca. 1662–1795), the chicken design had become the frequent subject of reinterpretation and celebration at Jingdezhen. It is, however, extremely rare to find surviving examples with Kangxi reign marks, though a pair of cups of identical design to the present, formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Domont, are preserved in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, (accession nos 75.974A-B and 75.973A-B). Compare another one in the Percival David Collection at the British Museum, London, illustrated in Stacey Pierson and Rosemary Scott, Flawless Porcelains: Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua Emperor, London, 1995, pl. 40, together with a Chenghua original, pl. 22, and a Qianlong version of apocryphal Chenghua mark, pl. 41. Unlike the David example, the present cup is particularly remarkable in its departure from its Chenghua inspiration. For a similarly distinct reimagining of the chicken design compare a pair of cups of Xuexicaotang hall mark, sold in our London rooms, 2nd December 1997, lot 272.

The present cup and the following lots (lots 68 to 73), all of which are decorated with the motif of chickens, were acquired by the father of the present owners in London, from the 1970s and later. The present cup was possibly acquired in London from Herman Baer (1898-1977) antiques, the Mayfair antiques dealer who was a close friend to the family.