Lot 1052
1052
A PAIR OF CHINESE PORCELAIN SPANIELS

Details
A PAIR OF CHINESE PORCELAIN SPANIELS
QIANLONG PERIOD

The seated pups modelled in mirror image with heads turned to one side in alert expression, wearing bell-hung narrow iron-red collars and with long curly tails curled round their haunches, white chests with dark sepia fur markings representing their coats, details of eyes, noses and claws picked out in grisaille and black enamel (slight wear to enamels, one with tail tip chipped, restoration to ears and to one front leg, the other with a chip to one ear and some touch-up to tail end)--9 1/8in. (23.2cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

See A. du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, p. 296 for illustrations of spotted and iron-red variations of King Charles spaniels. The breed is believed to have been popularized in the reign of Charles II (1660-85) and, like the pug dog, is thought to be the result of breeding with a dog brought from China.