Beschreibung:

Lot details China, 1662-1722. Delicately potted with deep rounded sides rising from a short foot to a flared rim, superbly enameled around the exterior with a red-flowering peach tree with small blossoms among scant leaves, representing the third month, the reverse inscribed in underglaze blue with a poem followed by a seal mark, the recessed base with an underglaze-blue six-character mark da Qing Kangxi nianzhi and of the period. Inscriptions: To one side, ‘Fenghua xinshe yan / shijie jiuchun nong’ (The swallow returns when the blossoms sway in the breeze / It is the season in late spring when farmers return to their fields). One seal, ‘Shang’ (appreciation). Provenance: From the collection of Carl Gustav Kjellin, acquired in Shanghai during the 1940s, and thence by descent in the family. Carl Gustav Kjellin (1910-1990) was a Swedish diplomat who was stationed in China until 1945 and thereafter at the Swedish embassy in Tokyo. He acquired most of his collection of Chinese porcelain and works of art during his time in Asia. Condition: Perfect condition with only minor wear. Minimal firing irregularities, including a microscopic glaze blister of less than 2 mm to the rim. Weight: 28.5 g Dimensions: Diameter 6.5 cm This finely potted cup is one of the so-called ‘month cups’, made at the imperial kilns during the Kangxi reign. One was made for each month of the lunar calendar. As in the case of the current example, these cups are so thinly potted that the blue of the inscription on the exterior can be seen through the porcelain from the interior of the vessel. Their decoration is characterized by very delicately painted decoration in underglaze blue and wucai enamels. Each of the cups has on one side a floral design appropriate to a particular month, and on the other side a poem which complements the design. Each of the cups also bears an underglaze blue seal character after the poem, which can be read as ‘shang’ (appreciation). Literature comparison: Compare a closely related cup included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Enamelled Polychrome Porcelain of the Manchu Dynasty (1644-1912), London, 1951, cat. no. 253. The Percival David Foundation in London has one of the few complete sets of cups for all twelve months, now in the collection of the British Museum, registration number PDF.815. The design on the current cup is very similar to the third month cup in the Percival David Foundation and bears the same poem, see Rosemary Scott, For the Imperial Court - Qing Porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, New York, 1997, pp. 82-83, no. 23. The Palace Museum, Bejing owns at least two sets, illustrated in Chugoku toji zenshu (Complete works on Chinese ceramics), Kyoto, 1981-86, vol. 21, pl. 61, and in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong - Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, page 65, no. 48. One is in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, illustrated in Idemitsu Bijutsukan zohin zuroku, Chugoku toji (Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection), Tokyo, 1987, pl. 221. One set in the Hong Kong Museum of Art was included in the exhibition ‘The Wonders of the Potter’s Palette’, Qing Ceramics from the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1984-5, cat. no. 15. Auction result comparison: Type: Near identical Auction: Sotheby’s London, 6 November 2019, lot 149 Price: GBP 112,500 or approx. EUR 149,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A rare wucai ‘month’ cup, Kangxi mark and period Expert remark: Compare the near identical form, decoration, enamels, and size (6.5 cm). Auction result comparison: Type: Near identical Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 1911 Price: HKD 2,670,000 or approx. EUR 393,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A fine famille verte ‘peach blossom’ cup, Kangxi six-character mark within double-circles and of the period Expert remark: Compare the near identical form, decoration, ena