6.1 cm. （2 3/8 in.） diam

Provenance：
T. T. Tsui Collection， Hong Kong

This remarkable cup is an extremely rare example of a Chenghua ‘bodiless’ bowl exhibiting the typical qualities of the ‘bodiless porcelain’， silky glaze and soft blue of the local Chinese cobalt contrasting with bright enamels only found on ceramics produced during this period. The use of local cobalt in particular， is a distinctive feature of this period， in contrast to the dark tones of imported cobalt from the Middle East used in earlier periods. Very few examples of wine cups from this period remain outside the Imperial collections other than excavated examples found in at the Imperial kiln site in Jingdezhen， which， numbering in their thousands， were deliberately pierced and smashed as imperfect examples. One such example， and the only other known wine cup of this pattern decorated in green enamels， was exhibited at the Tsui Museum of Art， A Legacy of Chenghua， Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan， Jingdezhen， Hong Kong， 1993， no. C85. A second excavated cup， similarly decorated， but in yellow enamels， was included in the same exhibition， no. C84.

Price estimate:
HKD： 6,000,000-9,000,000
USD： 774,200-1,161,300

Auction Result:
HKD: --