A CHINESE EXPORT 'COUPLE' FIGURE
Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period

清乾隆 外銷文人仕女立像
The finely modelled figure representing a couple, both standing up, the faces finely modelled with serene expressions, the lady wearing a blue-glazed robe and the gentleman wearing a celadon-glazed robe, both standing on a base.
15cm high

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PROVENANCE:

Santos, London

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LITERATURE:

J. Ayers. Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, by J. Ayers, 2016 London, vol. 1, pp. 90/91;

C. Jörg. The Geldermalsen [sunk in 1752], History and Porcelain, Groningen 1986, pp. 100/101;

C.S. Woodward. Oriental Ceramics at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1795, Cape Town 1974, p. 47, cat. 71 for a figure of this type recovered from the wreck of Middelburg sunk in 1780;

C. Sheaf and R. Kilburn. The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes, The Complete Record (1643/46-1752), by C. Sheaf and R. Kilburn, Oxford 1988, p. 157, fig. 206 for a a group of similar figures from the 1752 wreck;

The Nanking Cargo, sold at Christie’s Amsterdam in 1986, lots 5743 to 5746.