19TH CENTURY

Christie's New York has sold two related pairs of stag's heads, a pair of this model but colored blue, 25 January 2000, lot 106, and a blue and white spotted pair of slightly smaller size from the Thomas Mellon Evans collection, 18 June 1998. This very rare model represents a fascinating intersection of the European hunting trophy tradition and the Chinese reverence for deer as sacred. The deer in Chinese art symbolizes longevity, and is often shown alongside the sacred fungus, which only he can root out