.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The form of this very rare cup stand refers back to late 14th century underglaze-blue-decorated cup stands with plain flattened rims of the late Yuan and early Ming periods, such as that in the collection of the British Museum, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 13, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Tokyo, 1981, p. 216, pl. 227. Like the Falk cup stand, this has a keyfret band around the rim and an undecorated well. However, the 14th century example does not have a raised petal ring in the center and the interior base is decorated with floral scrolls. However, the raised petal ring is seen on a flower-shaped white dish excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen and published in A Legacy of Chenghua, The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 178-9, no. C45.
The delicate, naturalistic style of the flowering trees and shrubs, which encircle the petal ring on the interior of the Falk cup stand, and especially the inclusion of hovering butterflies, are also reminiscent of some of the designs seen on both doucai and blue and white porcelains of the late Chenghua reign. These themes appear on a covered box and a small bowl, for example, both of which were excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen and are illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua, op. cit., pp. 182-3 and 272-3, nos. C47 and C92, respectively.
The inclusion of a shou (longevity) character in the center of the cup stand is a nice touch. When the cup was in position the character would have been hidden, but whenever the cup was raised, it would have been as if the wish for long life was being reconfirmed.
The delicate, naturalistic style of the flowering trees and shrubs, which encircle the petal ring on the interior of the Falk cup stand, and especially the inclusion of hovering butterflies, are also reminiscent of some of the designs seen on both doucai and blue and white porcelains of the late Chenghua reign. These themes appear on a covered box and a small bowl, for example, both of which were excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen and are illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua, op. cit., pp. 182-3 and 272-3, nos. C47 and C92, respectively.
The inclusion of a shou (longevity) character in the center of the cup stand is a nice touch. When the cup was in position the character would have been hidden, but whenever the cup was raised, it would have been as if the wish for long life was being reconfirmed.