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A GREEN AND CAFÉ-AU-LAIT-GLAZED WINE CUP Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period image 1
A GREEN AND CAFÉ-AU-LAIT-GLAZED WINE CUP Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period image 2
Lot 149

A GREEN AND CAFÉ-AU-LAIT-GLAZED WINE CUP
Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period

15 May 2025, 11:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £7,680 inc. premium

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A GREEN AND CAFÉ-AU-LAIT-GLAZED WINE CUP

Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period
Thinly potted rising from a short straight foot with deep sides to a slightly everted rim, the exterior glazed apple-green thinning to white on the rim, the interior glazed brown, the base white with underglaze blue mark within a circle. 5.6cm (2 2/8in) diam.

Footnotes

清雍正 綠褐釉小盃
青花「大清雍正年製」楷書款

The green glaze applied to the exterior of the cup is also known as 'watermelon rind green glaze' (guapi lü you 瓜皮綠釉) due to its resemblance to the colour of watermelon rinds. It is a low-temperature coloured glaze that uses copper oxide as its colourant. The glaze is lustrous, exhibiting a bright, vivid emerald-green hue. This glaze was first developed during the Jiajing period of the Ming dynasty and revived in the Kangxi period.

The present lot is distinguished by its striking colour combination, featuring an amber-toned interior glaze contrasted with a rich green exterior glaze. This palette may have been inspired by the cups produced at the Gongxian kilns during the Tang dynasty, see two related green-and-amber-glazed cups, Tang dynasty, illustrated in Sekai tōji zenshū (Ceramic Art of the World) (世界陶瓷全集), Tokyo, 1976, vol.11, p.240, fig.65.

See a related small yellow-glazed cup, Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period, which was sold at Bonhams London, 6 November 2014, lot 30. See also a related small aubergine-glazed cup, Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 November 2023, lot 892.

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