Page 348 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

1115
A PAIR OF FAMILLE VERTE BUDDHIST LIONS
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
Each grinning lion is modeled sitting upright on an integral high
plinth, which is pierced at the front and back with a lobed panel
and is decorated on each side with peony, lotus, magnolia and
chrysanthemum on a stippled ground. One lion is shown with its head
turned to its right side, with a cub clambering up towards its chest,
and the other lion is shown with its head turned to its left side, with its
front left paw resting on an openwork brocade ball.
14 in. (35 cm.) high (2)
$30,000-40,000

PROVENANCE
Elizabeth Gibson Holahan (1903-2002) Collection, New York.
EXHIBITED
London, S. Marchant & Son, Recent Acquisitions, 31 March-5 April and
15-21 June 2006.
London, Marchant, Kangxi Famille Verte, 30 October-10 November 2017.
LITERATURE
S. Marchant & Son, Recent Acquisitions, London, 2006, pp. 34-35,
no. 17.
Marchant, Kangxi Famille Verte, London, 2017, pp. 16-17, no. 4.
The present pair of Buddhist lions graced the home of the
celebrated society lady Elizabeth Gibson Holahan (1903-2002). She
was a strong supporter of the preservation of buildings and artifacts,
serving as the president of The Landmark Society of Western New
York (1952-1961), and later as president of The Rochester Historical
Society (1977-2000). From 1942 until her death in 2002, her home
was the Oliver Culver House, the oldest residential structure in
Rochester, New York. This historic house was built in 1816, and a
pair of Buddhist lions, probably the present pair, can be seen on the
mantelpiece illustrated in a photograph in the magazine American
Tradition, published in 1978. (Fig. 1)

A similar pair of Buddhist lions, but with a geometric design on the
pedestals, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and is illustrated by
C. J. A. Jörg, Famille Verte: Chinese Porcelain in Green Enamels, Lier,
2011, p. 124, no. 113. Another pair is illustrated by E. J. Sullivan (ed.),
The Taft Museum: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York,
1995, p. 623, reference 1948.1.
清康熙 素三彩太獅坐像一對

1114

1114
A FAMILLE VERTE GILT-DECORATED POWDER-BLUE-
GROUND JAR AND COVER
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
The jar is decorated with lobed panels of courting couples in a garden
alternating with mountainous landscapes, below further panels
enclosing chrysanthemum growing from rocks, which are repeated on
the domed cover, all reserved on a powder-blue ground decorated with
foral designs in gilt.
18Ω in. (47 cm.) high
$12,000-15,000

清康熙 灑藍地金彩開光五彩山水人物紋蓋罐 Fig. 1 The dining room of the Oliver Culver House, likely showing the
present Buddhist lions on the mantelpiece, in 1978. Image Courtesy of CLA
(American Tradition Magazine). Photographer unknown.