Page 68 - Christie's Important Chinese Art, March 23 to 24 2023 New York

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN COLLECTION
~1068

AN IMPORTANT AND UNUSUALLY LARGE FAMILLE ROSE 顯㈥美४珍藏
FIGURE OF ZHONG KUI 清̖隆ǎ粉彩鍾馗⒤像
QIANLONG-JIAQING PERIOD (1736-1820)
Ϝ源
26q in. (67.4 cm.) high, hardwood stand
法४私́珍藏
$PIFO $PIFO
і敦
$80,000-120,000 索維ḓ珍藏
PROVENANCE: ֨ḛ
Private collection, France. . $PIFO及8 .PUMFZ
Ǘ.BOEBSJO BOE .FOBHFSJF $IJOFTF BOE +BQBOFTF
Cohen & Cohen, London. &YQPSU $FSBNJD 'JHVSFTǘ
賴蓋ṁ
年
頁
The James E. Sowell Collection.
LITERATURE:
M. Cohen and W. Motley, Mandarin and Menagerie: Chinese and Japanese
Export Ceramic Figures, Reigate, 2008, pp. 80-81.

According to legend, the Tang emperor Ming Huang
was saved from illness when Zhong Kui appeared in a
dream and killed the fever demon. Zhong Kui has since
appeared as the subject in a myriad paintings, works of
art and porcelain designs as the 'demon queller'. Some
depictions include playful demons, and some show
Zhong Kui riding his donkey or resting with a cup of
wine. As a protector and expeller of evil spirits, the image
of Zhong Kui is traditionally used as a door god during
Chinese New Year (a pair of images at the front door and
a single figure at the back door), and during the Duanwu
Festival.

This spectacular figure of Zhong Kui is remarkable for
its massive size and the fine quality of the enameling
and gilt decoration. The strength and confidence of the
modeling and the dynamic stance is also particularly
noteworthy. No other figure of this size and subject
appears to have been published.
A smaller (16.8 cm. high) famille rose figural portrayal
of Zhong Kui, shown sprawled drunkenly against wine
pots and rockwork while still holding his wine cup, is
illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of
the Palace Museum - 39 - Porcelains with Cloisonne
Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong
Kong, 1999, p. 53, no. 44, where it is dated to the Kangxi
period.