Page 216 - Bonhams Catalog Cohen and Cohen Jan 24, 2023 New York

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A RARE PAIR OF SEATED LADIES WITH SPANIELS AND This rare pair of figures would have appealed to the European taste for
PHOENIXES the exotic and what was thought to be the sublime and elegant life of
Qianlong period, circa 1740 Chinese ladies. Athanasius Kircher in 1625 remarked on the clothing
Modeled in mirror image and wearing a pale lime-green coat with of Chinese women and said that they passed their time “sporting with
penciled lotus roundels and a cloud design at the chest, the coat tied little dogs, birds and such delights.” (Similar groups of figures were
with a pink sash with gilt-decorated red pantaloons beneath, their modeled in European factories such as Meissen and Chantilly). Those
hair wrapped in blue turbans, each figure holds an animated spaniel may have been inspired by groups like this, but it is also likely that the
in their slightly raised arms, to the side sits a colorfully enameled inspiration passed both ways. Variations of the group are known with
phoenix fenghuang on blue-enameled rockwork, all supported on an parrots or small children, and groups of standing figures with deer and
asymmetric flat rock base. vases are known.
8 1/2in (21.5cm) high (2).
The fenghuang is a Chinese mythological bird that is referred to in
$25,000 - 35,000 the West as a phoenix or sometimes described as a peacock in
other sources. Its head has an orange comb and waddle, and a
乾隆時期 約1740年 粉彩綠衫仕女獵犬鳳凰擺件一對 back–pointing crest. The fenghuang was the Empress of birds and
in Chinese mythology they were honored by other birds. It signifies
Provenance: beauty, grace, virtue, and the unity of yin and yang.
James E. Sowell Collection
Others of this type can be found, see William Sargent, 1991, no. 124,
Published: for a pair with a detailed description; David Howard, 1994, no. 254, a
Cohen and Motley, Mandarin and Menagerie, Chinese and Japanese single example; Cohen and Cohen, 1999, no. 39, a single example;
Export Ceramic Figures, Volume I: The James E. Sowell Collection, Sharpe 2002, 209, a pair; Sotheby’s London, 22 June 1970, lot 154, a
Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 100-101, no. 5.2 pair; Sotheby’s Monaco, 27 June 1984, a pair holding parrots, and 18
Cohen & Cohen, Tyger Tyger!, Antwerp, 2016, pp. 186-188, no. 62 June 1988, lot 1692, a pair holding boys, without rocks; Christie’s New
York, 24 January 2005, lot 97, a standing lady holding a scone with a
來源： similar phoenix; Bonhams London, 6 June 2003, lot 263, a mirror pair
James E. Sowell舊藏 of the standing lady with scones and phoenix; Cohen & Cohen, 2015,
46, no. 33, a pair of standing maidens deer.
出版：
Cohen 及 Motley，《Mandarin and Menagerie, Chinese and Japanese
Export Ceramic Figures, Volume I: The James E. Sowell Collection》，
香港，2008年，頁100-101，圖版編號5.2
倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Tyger Tyger!》，安特衛普，2016年，
頁186-188，圖版編號62

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