Two blue and white winecups

THE FIRST WITH CHENGHUA FOUR CHARACTER MARK, BOTH KANGXI

Details

Two blue and white winecups
The first with Chenghua four character mark, both Kangxi
The steep sides with lightly flaring rim, delicately painted in cobalt blue with one of the Eight Drunken Immortals, Zhizhang, seated on a pony and slouched to one side supported by an attendant, a second attendant carrying a food-basket and wine-ewer over his shoulder, the reverse with a fourteen-character inscription and with the seal shang; and a larger cup painted with a butterfly on both ends of prunus and bamboo issuing from pierced rockwork
5.5 cm. and 7.5 cm. high (2)

Lot Essay

The inscription of the first cup is taken from Yingzhong baxian ge, the Tang Dynasty Ballad on the Eight Drunken Immortals, by Du Fu (712-770 A.D.) which reads Zhizhang qi ma si cheng chuan, yan hua luo jing shui zhong mian (Zhizhang rides his horse as if he were riding a boat, his vision is blurred, he tips into the well, and falls asleep in the water).

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