Page 233 - Sotheby's NYC September 21 2022 Important Chinese Art
P. 233

414                                                                  416

                                                                   A ‘DEHUA’ SEATED FIGURE OF                                           A LARGE PAIR OF ‘DEHUA’ FIGURES
                                                                   WENCHANG                                                             OF LADIES
                                                                   LATE MING DYNASTY                                                    17TH / 18TH CENTURY
                                                                   Height 10 in., 25.5 cm                                               each with a gilt-metal collar mount (2)
                                                                                                                                        Height 31¾ in., 80.7 cm
                                                                   PROVENANCE
                                                                   Pao & Moltke, Toronto (according to label).                          PROVENANCE
                                                                                                                                        Mid-Western Private Collection.
                                                                   ⊖  $ 5,000-8,000                                                     Sotheby’s New York, 22th October 2010, lot 54.
                                                                                                                                        In the late 17th century, figures of imposing,
                                                                   明末   德化白釉文昌帝君坐像                                                      elegant, white-glazed, porcelain ladies,
                                                                                                                                        exemplified by the present examples, were one
                                                                                                                                        of the most desirable Chinese luxury items
                                                                   來源                                                                   amongst the European elite. Prominently
                                                                   Pao & Moltke,多倫多 (標籤)                                                displayed on brackets and pedestals in bespoke
                                                                                                                                        Chinese-themed rooms, with their graceful
                                                                                                                                        stance, luxurious attire, and gentle demeanors,
                                                                                                                                        Dehua sculptures of dignified ladies embodied
                                                                                                                                        the allure of the East that had collectively
                                                                                                                                        captured European cultural imagination.
                                      414                                                                                               Similar figures may be found in numerous
                                                                                                                                        royal European palaces including Drottingholm
                                                                                                                                        near Stockholm, the collection of Augustus the
                                                                                                                                        Strong in Dresden, Sans Souci in Potsdam, and
                                                                                                                                        Charlottenburg in Berlin. The earliest record
                                                                                                                                        of similar Dehua models of ladies in Europe is
                                                                                                                                        the 1716 inventory of the collection of Queen
                                                                                                                                        Charlotte Amelie (1650-1714) at Rosenborg
                                                                                                                                        Castle in Denmark. A pair of nearly identical
                                                                                                                                        figures and three related figures, each of a
                                                                                                                                        woman holding a child in one arm, are in the
                                                                                                                                        Royal Collection, London and illustrated in John
                                                                                                                                        Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in
                                                                                                                                        the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, vol. 1,
                                                                                                                                        London, 2016, cat. nos 37-42.
                                                                                                                                        $ 30,000-50,000
                                                                   415
                                                                                                                                        十七 / 十八世紀   德化白釉仕女
                                                                   A ‘DEHUA’ FIGURE OF AN IMMORTAL
                                                                   17TH CENTURY                                                         立像一對
                                                                   Height 14⅛ in., 35.8 cm
                                                                                                                                        來源
                                                                                                                                        美國中西部私人收藏
                                                                   PROVENANCE
                                                                   Canadian Private Collection.                                         紐約蘇富比2010年10月22日,編號54

                                                                   ⊖  $ 5,000-8,000
                                                                   十七世紀   德化白釉仙人立像

                                                                   來源
                                                                   加拿大私人收藏









                                    415
               230     SOTHEBY’S        COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11074                                                                                                                                           231
   228   229   230   231   232   233   234   235   236   237   238