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A Chinese Doucai chicken cup, Chenghua mark, with flared mouth…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
25-Oct-2015
Lot No.
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Description:
A Chinese Doucai chicken cup, Chenghua mark, with flared mouth and shallow curvature of the sides and shallow ring foot. Decorated to the exterior, with a rooster leading two pairs of chickens with their young to feed. The illustration is vibrant both in its imagery and for the richness of the enamels used, with rockwork and peonies used to divide the composition in to two groups. The framed six-character Chenghua reign mark to the base, in underglaze blue reading 'Made in the Chenghua Reign of the great Ming', 3.6 cm high, 8.2 cm diameter. Provenance: Ex. Private collection, Melbourne. Catalogue note: Chenghua chicken cups were widely praised by the literati of the time, perhaps because of the emperor's fondness for them, such that in the late Ming it was generally agreed that, 'Ch'eng-hua chicken cups are the superlative drinking vessel.' It is also known that a Chenghua chicken cup, worth 100,000 pieces of gold, belonging to the Ming emperor Wan-li, went missing from his table.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified