RARE UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND IRON-RED DECORATED STEM CUP, XUANDE SIX CHARACTER MARK BUT YONGZHENG PERIOD

RARE UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND IRON-RED DECORATED STEM CUP, XUANDE SIX CHARACTER MARK BUT YONGZHENG PERIOD, the rounded upper bowl with an everted lip, above a cylindrical stem and spreading foot, the exterior decorated in iron-red with mythical sea creatures amid intense crested waves in underglaze blue, 10cm diam Provenance: The Collection of David Berg. Marchant & Son London, 8th February 2001. Exhibited: Formerly on loan to the Harvard Art Museum. Note: the design of this stem cup has its origins in the Ming Dynasty. For a Xuande mark and period example see The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue & White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), Shanghai 2000, pl.231. For a discussion of these wares see Chen Ching-kuang, Sea Creatures on Ming Imperial Porcelains, in Scott, R. (ed.), The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, London 1993, pp.101-122.