Sotꦇheby's London, 28th October 1958, lot 54. 

Collection of Dr Wou Kiuan (1910-1997). 

Wou Lien-Pai Museum, 1968-pr♛esent, coll. no. Q.7.24. ꦛ;

倫敦蘇富比1958年10月28日，編號54

吳權博士 (1910-1997) 收藏

吳蓮伯博物院，1968年至今，編號Q.7.24

From its first appearance on porcelains of the Chenghua period of the Ming dynasty, this charming motif of a cockerel, hen and chicks enjoyed continued popularity at court, especially during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns. While the form and design of the cup are altered markedly from the prototype, the Qianlong fanggu mark (‘Exemplifying antiquity during the Qianlong Reign of the Great Qing Dynasty’) and the poetic inscript꧑ion clearly reflect the Qianlong Emperor’s admiration for the Ming dynasty prototypes.

Similar cups are held in important museum collections worldwide, including a pair in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s Special Exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 144; one included in the exhibition Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr and Mrs J.M. Hu, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 1989, cat. no. 64; another included in the exhibition Joined Colours, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 1993, cat. no. 64; and two cups from the Sir Percival David collection now in the British Museum, London, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares, London, 1991, pls A823 and A827.

The poem written on this cup, which was composed by the Qianlong Emperor in 1776, identifies the boy as Jia Chang (b. AD 713), a child prodigy who began training at the age of thirteen to fight cocks for the Xuanzong Emperor (AD 713-56). The boy is painted on tiptoe, possibly to form the rebus qiao zu er dai, meaning ‘to expect sไomething to be soon forthcoming✨’.