Lot 219 , A rare pair of Chinese yangcai New Year Longevity stem cups, Qianlong or Jiaqing period, 11cm high
A rare pair of Chinese yangcai 'New Year Longevity' stem cups, Qianlong or Jiaqing period, each of inverted bell shape with moulded mask ring handles, finely painted to medallions with prunus, lingzhi and sacred bamboo (nandina) which form the rebus - May the fungus bestow longevity, the reverse inscribed 'xin nian ming bei' (New Year longevity cup) 'yu Kai fu ju' (an extract from a poem) and 'fu jiang zeng wan' (fujiang's pleasures), on a sgraffito ruby ground decorated with feathery leaves and flowers, the interiors with five red bats, symbolising the 'Five Blessings', there is a different diaper band below each rim and around each foot, the base with underglaze blue mark 'zhu lin tang' (Pearl Forest Hall), 11cm high
Estimate £2,000-3,000
Provenance - UK private collection, gifted to the vendor's late mother by her aunt before 1970.
cf. although the shape of these cups appears to be unrecorded the sgraffito ruby ground, flower and border decoration is similar to a Qianlong mark and period cup and cupstand sold by Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 6th April 2016, lot 3027. A small cup with similar sgraffito ground, but with the mark Baose zhai zhi ('Studio for the Precious and Miserly') on the base, sold by Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 28 November 1979, lot 236.
Such elaborately decorated famille rose vessels were produced under the direction of Tang Ying, the Qianlong emperor's celebrated supervisor at Jingdezhen, and their manufacture was a labourious process typically needing at least eight separate steps including three firings. The complicated and labourious sgraffito technique here employed characteristic of Qianlong yangcai porcelains gives the impression of rich silk brocade. In Chinese it is called jinshangtianhua, literally 'adding flowers to brocade', was first used by the Jingdezhen potters during the Qianlong period and was reserved for decorating very special pieces. The technique consisted of reserving the design on a monochrome enamel ground, which itself is structured by needle-point etching of endless scrolling fronds. Sgraffito was more often restricted to smaller subsidiary borders, rather than being used for the main field of decoration, due to the difficulty of achieving an evenness in the enamel over a large surface. The ruby ground pieces are normally found with underglaze blue or blue enamel Qianlong or Jiaqing seal marks.
One of the cups has been broken in half and reglued with some filler restoration and splintering to the immediate area on the inside. They don't appear to have any restoration or filling on the exterior, but there is also a small associated chip to the rim on one side. The second cup has a small V-shaped section of the rim broken and reglued, with some slight splinter losses around the immediate area on the exterior and a short hairline crack curving around from this, there is also some flaking to the enamel on the top of one of the mask handles and also both with some wear to the gilding on the rim.
Descriptions provided in both printed and on-line catalogue formats do not include condition reports. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging. Interested bidders are strongly encouraged to request a condition report on any lots upon which they intend to bid, prior to placing a bid. All transactions are governed by Gorringes Conditions of Sale.
Sold for £15,000