DAOGUANG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN IRON-RED AND OF THE PERIOD (1821-1850)

The shape of the present cups resemble the form of bells, ling dang, hence they are referred to as 'ling dang cups'. A cup with this bell shape dating to the Kangxi period (1662-1722) is in the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 38 - Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 155, no. 142. A pair of Daoguang mark and period cups identical to the present lot from the Simon Kwan Collection was exhibited at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Imperial Porcelain of Late Qing from the Kwan Collection, 1983, Catalogue no. 55; these were also exhibited at the National Museum of History in Taiwan, Imperial Porcelain of Late Ch'ing from the Kwan Collection, Taiwan, 1985, Catalogue no. 55; the pair was later sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 3045.