LATE QING DYNASTY

The Hehe Erxian, or the Two Immortals of Harmony and Unity, were believed to preside over happy marriages, and are adaptations of two famous poet-monks of the Tang dynasty, Hanshan and Shide. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the twins were usually depicted holding a box, he, and a lotus stem. The homophone he provides a rebus for harmony.

Compare a very similar Dehua group with a Xu Yunlin seal mark in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, included in the exhibition, The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Hong Kong Museum of Art and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 141. A slightly larger group was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 2811.