Lot Essay
For a very similar pair of figures, see A. du Boulay, op.cit., 1984, p.289, fig.11, where the author suggests they might possibly be included in the 1688 inventory of Burghley House described as "two Laughing Fryors", in which case this group of figures can be attributed to the early part of the Kangxi period. It is interesting to note that the boys in the present lot, as in other recorded similar models, wear small anklets, which would have been worn by Chinese boys until the age of sixteen to keep away evil spirits. See W. R. Sargent, op.cit., 1991, p.122. Two similar figures of boys from the Jakob Goldschmidt Collection, but differing from the present lot in that they wear trousers matching their jackets, were sold in these Rooms 29 and 30 June 1938, lots 45 and 46. A very similar figure of a boy from the Ionides Collection was sold in London, 2 July 1963, lot 50, and a group with two similar boys, but with one standing, as lot 51.