Page 43 - Tabor Collection Christie's New York April 10 2019

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A PAIR OF BROWN HAWKS
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The raptors with bright green and black eyes, their heads cocked in alertness and their fnely detailed
plumage with feather shafts picked out in gilt, their yellow talons grasping their craggy rockwork bases
which are splashed in purple, green and blue
11 in. (27.9 cm.) high (2)
$50,000-70,000
PROVENANCE:
With The Chinese Porcelain Co., New York.
The Property of a Charitable Institution; Christie's, New York, 1 December 1994, lot 453.
The Marvin Klinger Collection.
LITERATURE:
William R. Sargent, Chinese Porcelain in the Conde Collection, Madrid, 2014, p. 187, no. 59.
Hawks were a prized bird in China, used in hunting since at least Marco Polo's time, who recorded "quite
fve hundred" trained birds of prey that traveled with Qubilai. The strengths and intelligence of hawks
was appreciated in East and West alike, and they were one of the most desirable birds in Chinese export
porcelain. For a full discussion see M. Cohen and W. Motley, Mandarin and Menagerie, pp. 268-271,

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