Page 64 - Bonhams Catalog Cohen and Cohen Jan 24, 2023 New York

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A VERY RARE AND LARGE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE STANDING Pairs of smiling or ‘laughing boys’ traditionally represent the Twin
BOYS Immortals of Harmony (Hehe Erxian), who symbolize togetherness,
Qianlong period, circa 1780 harmony and accord. They were patron deities of Chinese merchants,
Modeled identically, apparently from the same mold, with arms and particularly of Chinese potters. Boys were strongly favored in Chinese
hands in the same positions, as a pair of Chinese smiling boys looking culture, and these have special protective amulets (suo) around their
directly forwards, both with two black hair coils and wearing brightly necks in the shape of locks to ward off evil spirits. Their bracelets,
colored, pink-ground floral tunics and opaque cornflower-blue floral traditionally worn by boys under the age of 16 years, were made from
trousers, each standing on a low rectangular base. the beaten iron nails from old coffins. Slightly earlier versions of these
13 1/2in (33.5cm) high (2). standing ‘laughing boys’ are recorded mainly in famille verte enamels
and occasionally in blue and white, but these large multi-colored
$30,000 - 40,000 famille rose example are very rare and almost certainly cost much more
to produce originally at Jingdezhen.
乾隆時期 約1780年 珍稀大件粉彩童子立像一對
References: for famille rose enameled examples see Gyllensvärd et
Published: al 1972, no. 76, p. 295, a single figure; Howard 1997, no. 171, p.
Cohen & Cohen, Baroque & Roll, Antwerp, 2015, p. 42-43, no. 31 135; Peabody Essex Museum, illustrated by Sargent 2012, no. 255,
pp. 459-461 (a larger example 26 1/2in (67cm) high; Cohen & Motley
出版： 2008, no. 4.7, p. 92; Cohen & Cohen, Tyger Tyger!, Antwerp, 2016,
倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Baroque & Roll》，安特衛普，2015 pp. 146-147, no. 64, a pair; and Williamson 1974, plate LIX, another
年，頁42-43，圖版編號31 single figure.

Famille verte versions appear in a number of collections and
publications: see for example Antunes 1999, p. 61; Alves et al, 1998,
no. 124, p. 318; du Boulay 1963, p. 89; a boy and a girl in the Lady
Lever Gallery, Liverpool, published by Hobson 1925; and the ones
formerly in the Mottahedeh Collection, New York., reproduced by
Howard & Ayers 1978, p. 579, no. 600.

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