Lot Essay
The tall flared shape of this delicately potted cup is a revival of a classic form of the Jiajing period (1522-1566), known as yangzhong bei (upright bell-shaped cup). Compare the present lot to a Kangxi blue and white cup of this size and design, sold at Sotheby’s London, 11 December 1990, lot 313. Another Kangxi example of slightly larger size was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 October 1991, lot 815. Compare also a Kangxi blue and white cup of the same form but painted with a different landscape scene in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection, illustrated by Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics: Porcelain of the Qing Dyansty 1644-1911, p. 65, no. 41.