A RARE PAIR OF SOAPSTONE FIGURES OF MEIREN

18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE PAIR OF SOAPSTONE FIGURES OF MEIREN
18TH CENTURY
Each standing figure shown holding a stalk of lingzhi fungus in one hand and a vase in the other, wearing richly incised layered robes tied at the waist with a sash, with an animal-skin capelet worn around the shoulders and an apron around the hips, one of similar animal pattern, their faces well carved with delicate features and their hair drawn up behind a tiara into elaborate double loops with long ends that trail down onto the shoulders, with traces of black, red and blue pigment and gilding highlighting the incised decoration
11¾ in. (29.8 cm.) high, wood stands (2)

Lot Essay

Compare the pair of similar soapstone figures of ladies holding a basket of lingzhi, peaches and flowers, but seated atop mythical beasts, included in the exhibition, Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces, Christopher Bruckner Asian Art Gallery, London, 1998, no. 30.
Soapstone figures of this type seem to have been popular with the German nobility during the seventeenth century, with Augustus the Strong of Saxony building special rooms in his Dresden palace to house his soapstone collection.

More from Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

View All