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Lot Essay
Stem cups became a popular form in porcelain during the Yuan dynasty. The majority of these had a broad bowl with everted rim on top of a tall, flaring foot, which could either be ridged, like bamboo, or smooth. The form was equally popular in plain white with only molded decoration, or embellished with underglaze painted designs. The majority of these stem cups have molded decoration on the inside of the walls of the bowl. This is most commonly a design of dragons, but in the present case, the design is of flowers. The motif painted in the center of the interior varies considerably and can include clouds, like the one seen inside the current cup.
The dragons on the exterior of these cups are very distinctive, with neck back and head forward to form a compressed S-form, and the scales depicted using cross-hatching. A number of these cups are known. The majority of these have a freely drawn classic scroll in underglaze blue around the interior mouth.
For a Yuan stem cup of this type with an unridged stem, which has been painted in underglaze blue with a band of pendent plantain leaves, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 14, no. 12.
Compare also the current cup with the one from the Falk Collection (Part I), sold in our New York Rooms, 16 October 2001, lot 127.
The dragons on the exterior of these cups are very distinctive, with neck back and head forward to form a compressed S-form, and the scales depicted using cross-hatching. A number of these cups are known. The majority of these have a freely drawn classic scroll in underglaze blue around the interior mouth.
For a Yuan stem cup of this type with an unridged stem, which has been painted in underglaze blue with a band of pendent plantain leaves, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 14, no. 12.
Compare also the current cup with the one from the Falk Collection (Part I), sold in our New York Rooms, 16 October 2001, lot 127.