A CHINESE EXPORT FAMILLE-VERTE GLAZED BISCUIT FIGURAL GROUP circa 1715-35

modeled as a Dutchman with long brown curling hair, wearing a yellow cape showing traces of old vermilion cold paint and gilding, playing a musical instrument and dancing beside his seated hound on a rectangular base with an egg-and-spinach glazed front and ends.  The instrument mostly missing, and the dog's head reattached.

Whatever boy was holding is missing, tip of "horn" chipped, along with right thumb and all left fingertips and one right fingertip missing, dog with neck reglued through an original firing crack, upper corner of base by dogs's right foreleg with 1/4-inch chip, cold paint and gilding on the boy's cloak almost all worn away, minor firing cracks.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This rare group can be compared to other small Kangxi (1662-1722) and Yongzheng (1723-35) period biscuit groups modeled with figures of Europeans.  A small Kangxi biscuit group of a European man and a Buddhist lion on a low pierced plinth in the Copeland Collection at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, illustrated by Sargent, p. 55, no. 16, is decorated on the biscuit body with similarly colored glazes, and presumably dates to about the same period, although there are significant differences in the men's costumes.  Sargent, p. 54, cites two other small figural groups of Europeans, one of which, modeled as a European man seated on a lion, he illustrates in fig. 16a, and notes that like the present group, it is decorated "with colored glazes and vermilion on the biscuit."  He further comments that such pieces were created probably for the domestic market and that "the curiosity and amusement aroused in China by the novelty of Western dress and habits is reflected in many of the books, scrolls and ceramics made for the Chinese market since at least the Tang dynasty."

A group of this model is illustrated by Mudge, p. 58, color fig. 72, who ascribes it a date of circa 1715-30.