20TH CENTURY

Massive cloisonné enamel figures of animals standing on plinths are seen as early as the Qianlong period, such as the figure of an elephant supporting a vase on its back (170 cm. high) in the Qing Court Collection, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 43 - Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pp. 142-43, pl. 137. A pair of massive cloisonné enamel sheep, also with Arabic inscriptions, of a size comparable to that of the present figures (122 cm. wide) was sold at Christie's New York, 18 September 2014, lot 649.