Lot Essay
This rare porcelain figure is a much larger version of famille rose- decorated figures of Chinese ladies, such as the example illustrated by D. Howard and J. Ayers, China for the West, London and New York, 1978, vol. 2, no. 642. Dated circa 1740-50, and with a stationary rather than movable head, this figure also wears a cloud collar and a robe over a long pleated skirt. As with the present figure the hair is scored biscuit painted black and is dressed with a coral and gilt-ivory pin and comb.
The figure may also have been influenced by the large (30in.) 17th/18th century blanc-de-chine figures of court ladies with separately made heads and hands, such as the pair sold in these rooms, 23 March 1995, lot 387. Compare, also, two painted clay figures with nodding heads dated circa 1800, but of smaller size (26in.), in the Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, illustrated by Carl L. Crossman, The China Trade, London, 1991, p. 316, col. pl. 112. One of these standing figures is a woman, dressed in a robe decorated with a crane rank badge and scattered flower sprigs worn over a long skirt with lishui stripe at the hem.
The figure may also have been influenced by the large (30in.) 17th/18th century blanc-de-chine figures of court ladies with separately made heads and hands, such as the pair sold in these rooms, 23 March 1995, lot 387. Compare, also, two painted clay figures with nodding heads dated circa 1800, but of smaller size (26in.), in the Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, illustrated by Carl L. Crossman, The China Trade, London, 1991, p. 316, col. pl. 112. One of these standing figures is a woman, dressed in a robe decorated with a crane rank badge and scattered flower sprigs worn over a long skirt with lishui stripe at the hem.