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TWO FIGURES OF IMMORTALS
China
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Porcelain decorated with famille verte enamels on the biscuit
Height: 13 cm; length: 4 cm
Height: 13.6 cm; length: 4 cm
Two miniature figures of a man and woman, each crippled and able-bodied. Commonly represented in
modelled standing on a rectangular pedestal. Each is ceramics from the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) onwards,
decorated with famille verte enamels on the biscuit, in they can be found as a single figure, in pairs, or as a
combination with a clear glaze wash. The robes of the whole group. Each has an attribute which helps to
woman are painted with green enamel over a clear identify the individual; these objects were frequently
glaze undergarment, her hair is painted in black with represented in their own right by the Qing dynasty
a yellow clasp. She is holding an attribute in her left (1644-1911).1
hand, which is also painted in yellow. The man is Figures of the Eight Immortals were made at
wearing a tall square hat and long robes painted in Jingdezhen throughout the 18th century in a variety of
aubergine-brown enamel over a green undergarment. wares, for both the domestic and export markets. They
His hat and attribute are painted in black. The pedestal may have been used on a family altar in China, or
of each figure is decorated with the ‘egg-and-spinach’ exported as curiosities to the West. Evidence of export
pattern, while in addition, the base of the woman’s can be found in the wreck of the Geldermalsen which
pedestal is painted with an inventory number: sank in 1752. Numerous blue-glazed porcelain figures
‘1163 6’. of immortals were found amongst the cargo.2 Several
small blanc de Chine and polychrome figures, probably
The Eight Immortals are the gods of Daoism. This painted in famille rose enamels, are in the Chinese
diverse group, each of which is based on a historical Pavilion at Drottningholm, which was originally built
figure, includes young and old, male and female, and furnished in 1753.3
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