Jingdezhen Hand-Painted Chenghua-Style Doucai Chicken Cup

In April 2014, the Meiyintang Chenghua chicken cup sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong for HK$281.24 million, approximately US$36.05 million at the time, setting a world auction record for Chinese porcelain. The scale is the surprise: the fifteenth-century original is scarcely wider than a palm, yet its family scene and softly layered color have held collectors' attention for centuries.

This contemporary Jingdezhen reproduction follows that same intimate scale. Its low foot, gently flaring sides and 8.2 cm rim make it a cup to turn in the hand, where the rooster, hen, chicks, flowers and garden rocks reveal themselves in sequence. The doucai decoration begins with underglaze-blue drawing, followed by red, green, yellow and brown enamels above the glaze.

The chicken-family subject has long carried associations of care for the young, continuity, and good fortune. The Metropolitan Museum of Art preserves a Chenghua-period example of nearly identical scale and describes nurturing the young as the central value carried by the design. A decorative six-character 大明成化年製 mark appears within a double square on the base, completing this full-scale contemporary encounter with one of Chinese porcelain's most celebrated cup designs.

• Origin: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China
• Material: High-fired white porcelain
• Craft: Hand-painted doucai decoration
• Motif: Rooster, hen, chicks, flowering plants and garden rocks
• Diameter: Approx. 8.2 cm / 3.2 in
• Height: Approx. 3.7 cm / 1.5 in
• Capacity: Approx. 70 ml / 2.4 oz
• Base mark: Decorative six-character 大明成化年製 mark within a double square
• Period note: Contemporary full-scale reproduction after a Ming Chenghua prototype