Lot Essay
A cup of this pattern is illustrated by Wirgin, Kang-hsi Porcelain, pl. 27a; another example sold in these Rooms, 18 March 1991, lot 544
There is some debate as to whether the narcissus depicted on the present lot represents the eleventh or twelfth lunar month. The present cataloguing follows that of both the Percival David Foundation and Hong Kong Museum of Art. Many of the months have clear-cut floral representatives. Narcissus together with wintersweet usually represents the twelfth month, but as both are depicted on sets of month cups and since the wintersweet belongs definitavely to the twelfth lunar month, the narcissus falls logically to the eleventh.
For complete sets of month cups, cf. the Hong Kong Museum of Art Special Exhibition of The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Qing Ceramics, 1984, Catalogue, no.15; Chinese Ceramics, The Idemitsu Collection, pl.221; R.Scott, Fine Porcelain and Delicate Brushwork, Orientations, November, 1986, pp.22-35, figs.2-2b; and Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, p.65
There is some debate as to whether the narcissus depicted on the present lot represents the eleventh or twelfth lunar month. The present cataloguing follows that of both the Percival David Foundation and Hong Kong Museum of Art. Many of the months have clear-cut floral representatives. Narcissus together with wintersweet usually represents the twelfth month, but as both are depicted on sets of month cups and since the wintersweet belongs definitavely to the twelfth lunar month, the narcissus falls logically to the eleventh.
For complete sets of month cups, cf. the Hong Kong Museum of Art Special Exhibition of The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Qing Ceramics, 1984, Catalogue, no.15; Chinese Ceramics, The Idemitsu Collection, pl.221; R.Scott, Fine Porcelain and Delicate Brushwork, Orientations, November, 1986, pp.22-35, figs.2-2b; and Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, p.65