CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, MARQUE A SIX CARACTERES DA QING QIANLONG FANGGU EN CACHET ET EPOQUE QIANLONG, INSCRIPTION DATEE DE L'ANNEE BINGSHEN CORRESPONDANT A 1776

It is highly unusual to find beaker cups of this subject matter without the dancing young boy, such as the example in the Sze Tak Tong Collection, illustrated in Joined Colors: Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., p. 138, no. 64. The Qianlong poem records well-known ceramics that were produced from as early of the Tang dynasty, and the 'chicken cup' of the Ming dynasty was regarded as the very best throughout antiquity. For a translation of the text, see op. cit., pp. 53-54; where the author points out that the rebus formed by the cockerel and peony flowers, gongming fugui, 'A cockerel is crowing near peony flowers', heralds the announcement of wealth and honour.
Compare to another chicken cup depicting the same decoration and size sold at Christie's Hong Kong, The Imperial Sale, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 29 April, 2002, lot 625.