19TH CENTURY

Although generally thought to have been made for the export market, these models of ducks may originally have been made for the domestic market. See W. R. Sargent, op.cit., 1991, p.168; and M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain, 1987, p.108, where the authors comment that porcelain birds must have been made for the Imperial palace since there is an entry for May 1742 in the notebook of Tang Ying, Director of the Imperial kilns (1736-56), which records: "Received an order to make pairs of storks that should be depicted viewed from the front". Very similar models to the present lot, although possibly a little earlier in date, are to be found in the Copeland Collection, which are white-glazed, illustrated by W. R. Sargent, ibid., no. 78; a pair in polychrome enamels is illustrated by M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, ibid., pl.156; another pair is illustrated by A. du Boulay, op.cit., 1984, p.301, fig.10, having been previously sold in these Rooms, 10 July 1961, lot 71 (colour frontispiece); and another similar pair, from the Goldschmidt Collection, was exhibited, Chinesischer Kunst, Berlin, 1929, Catalogue, no. 1055, and also exhibited Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo, Buenos Aires, 1969, Porcelanas "Compaia de las Indias", Catalogue, no.41, pl.XVI.