A rare pair of famille-verte figures of a European lady and gentleman, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 五彩西洋人物立像一對

French Private Collection, acquired in Paris in the 1950s or 1960s.

Christie's London, 24th April 2017, lot 124.

法國私人收藏，1950年代或1960年代得於巴黎

倫敦佳士得2017年4月24日，編號124

This pair of European figures, often erroneously described as Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon, is elegantly attired in the elite fashion of the French court around 1700 but with the noteworthy inclusion of Chinese artistic motifs replacing European decorative patterns. The model for the figures is considered to have been inspired by late 17th century engravings produced by Henri and Nicolas Bonnart.

Similar examples in museum collections include a pair in the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, illustrated in William Sargent, The Copeland Collection, Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures, Salem, 1991, pp 104-105; a pair in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from the Basil Ionides Bequest (accession nos C.109-1963 and C.109A-1963); and a pair in Dresden, from the collection of Augustus the Strong and included in a 1721 inventory, is illustrated in Eva Ströber, "

La Maladie de Porcelaine…": East Asian porcelain from the collection of Augustus the Strong, Leipzig, 2001, pl. 22.